History And Legend In Hyderabad

HISTORY AND LEGEND

IN

HYDERABAD

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION
AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, HYDERABAD

JZ> E G JS B 3S.

1 Q S 3

contents

page

ADILABAD 3

ASIFABAn, BOATH, KmWAT, MAHUR 4

LAKSHETTIPET, ONAKDEO 5

MANIKOADH, NIRMAL 6

AURAKGABAX> 7

AJANTA 9
ELLORA 1 1

AHALYA BAI TEMPLE, ANTUR, AURANGABATl CITY AND CAVES 1 3

BHOKARDAN, DAULATABAD 14

JALNA, KHULDABAD 16

PAITHAN 1 7
PITHALKHORA, SILLOD 19

BKCR 21

BHIR CITY 22

AMBAJOGAI, DHARUR, PURLI 23

BIDAR 25

BIDAR FORT 28
CITY 30
SUBURBS 32
SEVEN SPRINGS 34

HOMNABAD, KALYANI 36

UDGIR 38

GULBARGA 39

CITY 4 1
ALAND, MALKHED 45

SAOAR, SHAHPUR 46

SHORAPUR, YADGIR 47

HY1>£RABA1> 49

SECUNDERABAD 66
GOLCONDA 68
TANKS 71

KARIMNAGAR 73

ECUZURABAD, JAGTIAL, SULTANABAD 74

page

IVIAMBOOHISTAGAR 77

AMEIABAD, GADWAL, JAGCHERLA, M AflBOOKNAGAK 79

I^£DAK: 81

KONDAPUR 83
KOMATUR 84
MEDAK GITV, PATANGHERU, SANGAREDOV 85

NALGOjSTUA 87

gajulibanda 89
N agueapahad 9{ )

PANIGIRI 9 I

NANDED 93

HUZUR SAHIB GURDWARA 95

BHAISA, BILLOLIj KAULAS 96

KANDAHAR 97

ISniZAMEABAD 99

BODHAN, DIGHPALt.l 99
JANKAMPET, NIZAMABAD GITV i 00

OSAJANTABAD lOl

TGI J A PUR 102

MANKBSAR, NALDRUG, OSMANABAO CIl V, OWSA 103

P ARENDA, TER I O'l-

PABBHLANI 107

AUNDHA, HINGOLI 108

KAICHUR 109

AEAMPUR 111
ANEGUNDI 112
GABBUR, ITTAGI 113

KALEUR, KUSHTAGI 114

ETNGSUGUR, MASKI, MUDGAE 115

RAIGHUR CITY 116

WARANGAE 117

100O-PI1T.AR TEMPER, WARANGAL FORT I 20
RAMAPPA, EAKNA\'ARAM 1 2 1

PAKHAE, HASANPARTI, K.AZ1PET, ICHAMMAM 1 22

MUEUG, KATAGHPUR, WARAl>l-iANNAPET 123

BMADRACHALAIVI 123

HISTORY AND LEGEND

IN

HYDERABAD

A

^^LONG THE STREAM OF TIME, THE REGION BETWEEN THE
Godavari and the Krishna has always been the home of history and legend.

Briefly, there have been three main stages in the march of time in the Deccan. The
prehistoric going back to the Stone Age and even the food-gathering period of the primitive
man; the protohistoric with its epical richness as depicted in the Ramayam and the Maha-
hkarata; and finally the historic which, of course, overlaps the protohistoric from days
preceding the advent of Buddha,

Perhaps in no other compact region in our country, the three periods are more
representatively illustrated in stone and plaster, in caves and rocks, in paint and pigment
and in relics, inscriptions and sites having scenic associations with ancient glory.

Primitive artifacts, megalithic tombs and terracotta figurines take us thousands of
years back from the age of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, The land of the three lingas,
Telingana (trilingana), and its numerous associations with the Ramayam link us up inti-
mately with the protohistoric period. The discoveries at Maski, the Asokan inscriptions
and Ajanta and Ellora portray the greatness of the Buddhistic period, while many arch-
aeological monuments tell of the great days of the Andhras, including those of the last of
the Andhras, the Kakatiyas.

Then come the massive footprints left behind by the Muslim conqueron from
Muhammad Tughlaq right down to the Moghuls, and the Vijayanagar interlude which
has its own conspicuous place in the annals of the Deccan.

All this living past is there not merely for the delight of the archaeologist, the anti-
quarian and the historian, but also for all those who take pride in our rich cultural herit-
age, yet how few can claim to have even heard of them, except perhaps of Ajanta and
EUora.

Space and time prevent a detailed description of aJl the places of interest and nearly
5,000 monuments which embellish the Deccan, but it is hoped that this slim, volume will

2

make up for the singular lack of any comprehensive publication, as well as serve as a guide
to visitors, tourists and enthusiasts.

For practical reasons the treatment here is district- wise. This would seem to put
into background the most important places, but the visitor and the sight-seer would be
well-advised to consult the State’s- tourist organization, which, incidently, happens to be
included in the Department of Information and Public Relations, Hyderabad, before
drawing up an itinerary.

While railways and buses can take the visitor almost anywhere in the State, the
question of accommodation and facilities cannot be answered here for want of relevant
data, but with pre-planning it is always possible to arrange for both if only the proper
quarters are contacted. In most places there are traveller’s bungalows and similar
places for staying overnight if necessary. In many cases it is possible to visit a site and
return to the district headquarters within the day, where there is rarely any serious lack of
hotel or other accommodation for the visitor.

ADILABAD

T

HE district of Adilabad is 7,000 square miles in area and contains some of the best
forests in the State. It is bounded on the north, east and west by the river Penganga;
which during its course assumes the name of Wardha and Pranhita until it meets the
Godavari, which forms the southern boundary of the district, near Chinnur. The centre
of the district is characterized by a plateau containing hill ranges which reach a height of
2,000 feet in some places. These uplands cover nearly half the area of the district and
are the home of the well-known tribe of Rajgonds and the lesser known sub*^ tribes of
Kolams, Thottis, Naikpods and Pradhans.

Historically, the northern portions of the district, including the present taluqs of
Kinwat, Boath, Adilabad, Utnur and Rajura seem to have formed a part of the Berar.
The taluqs of Sirpur and Asifabad were ruled by the Gonds for - many centuries, while
the taluqs of Chinnur, Lakshettipet and Nxrmal have been inhabited by Telugu-speaking
population for a long time.

Monuments of Yadava rule which lasted up to 1320 can be noticed in the northern
part of the district in the fort and temples of Mahur, the temple and hot water springs of
Onakdeo, where one of the earliest Marathi inscriptions on record has been discovered,
and in the temples at Jainad, Chandur and Rajura.

The eastern parts of the Adilabad district, comprising the taluqs of Sirpur, Asifabad
and portions of Rajura and Utnur were under the Gonds since at least the 15th century#
Sirpur seetns to have been the frontier town of the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal. It
finds prominent mention in the campaign of Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin
Khilji, and was stormed by him on his march to Warangal in 1310 A.D. . The campaign
has been graphically described by the court-poet Amir Khiisro, who probably accorn*
panied the army of Malik Kafur in the Deccan.

Adilabad district has 38 places of interest, few of them renowned or well-known, but

4

some of them still deserving a brief note.

ADILABAD

The town itself has a fine mosque of the later Muslim period, and a temple where an
annual fair is held.

ASIFABAD

In Asifabad is a 16th century temple constructed in Indo- Aryan style. West of the mili-
tary quarters archaeological operations have brought to light wood-fossils dating from the
prehistoric period.

At Gangapur in Asifabad taluq a 15th century Vaishnavite temple is a notable
monument. A similar Vaishnavite temple of 17th century can be seen at Jainad in the
same taluq.

• At Pangri and Pareshwar there are prehistoric sites where neolithic implements such
as flakes, cores and similar objects are in a fair state of preservation. An Indo-An^an
temple dating from the 14th and 16th centuries is a prominent feature at Wakdi.

BOATH

In Boath taluq there are prehistoric sites containing neolithic implements at Dhonor,
Islapur and Kuntla. The Kuntla falls are also worth a visit.

In Gudi Hatnur there is a fine 17th century temple built in the Hemadpanthi style,
while cairns and menhirs are relics of prehistoric burial grounds. At Gurg too there is a
similar ancient cemetery comprising of stone circles. At Prochera there is a waterfall
near which a site containing neolithic implements has also been discovered.

Samangadh and Sonagadh have i7th and 18th century forts built in the Muslim
military architectural style, while at Sonagadh there are prehistoric burial grounds and
neolithic sites also.

KINWAT

MAHUR in Kinwat taluq is the most important historical place in the district. One
of the most ancient temples in the Deccan is the temple of Renuka Devi at Mahur.
Renuka De\d figures in the legend of Parasurama, who is said to have slain his mother
at the bidding of his . fe.thcr. The goddess is also known as Ekaviradevi and figures
prominently in Hindu mythology. The name «Mathapur*’, from which the word
Mahur is derived, refers to this goddess only. The place seems to have been important
from very early times.

Jhe Pattatraya cult, which received great impetus in the medieval ages through

5

the Nathpanthi gosains of Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath cults, and through the
author of the popular book Gurucharitra, has flourished in Mahur for the last eight
centuries. Mahur has been described as one of the places where Dattatraya resides.

The Mahanubhava cult, which grew in Maharashtra in the 13th century A.D. as a
parallel to the Bhagavata cult, looked upon Mahur as one of its most important centres.
Mahur came to be associated with many Mahanubhava saints who have enriched the
spiritual and literary life of Maharashtra during and immediately after the period of the
Yadava rulers of Devagiri. Even now there is a well-known Mahanubhava monastery
at Mahur which draws people of that sect from far and near. The temple is 184 feet
square and 54 feet high.

The gosains from the north established themselves in Mahur about five centuries ago.
The founder of the Mahur monasteries of gosains, Sidhanath, seems to have flourished in
the 14th century. There is a big temple known as Shikhar dedicated to Dattatraya
under the management of gosain jagirdars of the place. Documents pertaining
to grants, attributed to Aurangzeb and dating from 1696 A.D., are to be seen
at Mahur in the custody of the gosains. West of Mahur, at the foot of a hill, are
the rock-cut temples of Pandolena of distinct Brahminical style dating from 7tli to 9th
centuries.

Besides the temples of Dattatraya and Shikhar, Mahur has a very ancient fort which
has figured prominently in history. It seems to have been originally constructed by the
Yadava rulers, but in the disturbed periods following it was held by the local chieftains
until it fell to the Bahmani rulers in 1420 A.D. Mahur remained the headquarters of
the province of Berar under the Bahmanis, and later on, when the local dynasty of I mad
Shahis, established itself in Berar, it became their principal military stronghold. The
place passed to the Moghuls along with the province of Berar in 1592 A.D. Local tradi-
tion still points to the ruins of a palace where Shah Jahan and his consort took refuge
from the forces of Jehangir. These ultimately became a part of the State in 1724.
Other features in Mahur are the Idgah, the Dargah of Sonapir and the Mavali tank.

At ONAKDEO there are hot springs whose sulphur waters have medicinal value.
Popular legend associates them with Rishi Sarabhanga whose hermitage might have
been near here. An annual jatra is held here in November.

The 1 8th century Dargah of Hazrat Sadruddin and Hazrat Badruddin is a notable
feature of Saihapur, while at Timurni the Dargah of Shah Lutfullah resembles a typical
Pathan tomb.

LAKSHETTIPET

Here 13th and 14th century fortifications typify Hindu military architecture of the

6

later period.

MANIKGADH

The strong fortress of Manikgadh, nearly 1,700 feet high, and situated in inaccessible
territory, was held by the Gond Rajas of Chanda whose sway extended in the north to
Nagpur and in the south nearly upto the Godavari. They maintained their indepen-
dence till the end of the 16th century when they began to give nominal allegiance to the
I^Ioghuls, and then to the Marathas, to whom tliey finally succumbed in 1751 and lost the
kingdom of Chanda.

Tradition asserts that the Gond rulers began their rule in the 9th century, though
this seems to have been based mainly on hearsay. Sirpur was their capital until the
Rajas transferred it to Chanda in the 16th century.

Today the Gonds are one of the principal tribes of Central India and retain to the
full their tribal customs, traditions and manners. Every year Gonds . and other tribes
gather in their thousands at the annual fail' at Keslapur, a sylvan village.

NIRMAL

In southern Adilabad, the town of Nirmal, is of historic interest. It seems to have
been held originally by the Velmas until it was taken in the latter part of the Ifitli
century by Alirza Ibrahim Baig Zafruddaula, also known as Dhaunsa, a general of the
Second Nizam. This nobleman reconstructed the present fortress of Nirmal, tlac architects
being Frenchmen in the Nizam’s service. The Saradmahal, which is now used , as a
travellers’ bungalow, is on the site of the old buildings constructed by this chieXtain.
After his death his sons rebelled against the Nizam, who had to max'ch upon iMirmal
and reduce the fort. The estate was then confiscated and Nirmal became a part ol* the
State. . .

Other places worth seeing in Nirmal are the Mahadeo temple and its sculptures,
the 17th century Jami Masjid, and Ibrahimbagh with its gardens and fountains. ,

Today Nirmal is the home of a fine wood-, lacquer and toy industry which has .become
known even outside India, and a visit to one of these cottage industry factories .is ins-
tructive.

AURANGABAD

M

^ people have heard of Ajanta and Ellora than of Aurangabad. But the story

of this historic district on the Bombay border is almost as interesting as these famous mas-
terpieces in art and architecture.

The earliest trace of human habitation in this district was discovered in the shape of a
paleolithic artifact at Tvloongi on the left bank of the Godavari. Antiquities of the Stone
Age, have been discovered at several places in the district but the regular history begins
circa 300 B.C., that is, at the beginning of the early Andhra period. Since then man’s
genius has continuously exerted itself in fathoming the deepest recesses of the human soul.
These sublime efforts have manifested themselves in monuments at various places, which
are permeated with a spiritual glow.

The Pandavas during their exile are said to have wandered into the Aurangabad
district, and also to have constructed the massive hill fortification of Deogarh (Deogiri,
Devagiri) ,

The Surpanath hill near Kannad in the district is pointed out as having been the
residence of Surpanakha whose ears and nose were cut off by Sri Lakshmana.

The expedition of Alexandar made the Greeks acquainted with India and soon they
also found the sea route. In those days the Dakshinapatha (Deccan) was under great
vassals (Mahamandalesvaras), and hereditary land-holders (Poligars), who owed alle-
giance to the overlords of Tagara and Plithana (Paithan).

Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent Dionysius into the southern parts of India
about B.C. 268, and it was then that Tagara became known to the Greeks. It is also
mentioned by Arrian that on the arrival of the Greeks in the Deccan “ Tagara was the
metropolis of a large district called Ariaca, and that Tagara and Plithana were the princi-
pal marts in Dachanabades.” All kinds of merchandise from throughout the Deccan were
brought to Tagara and thence conveyed on carts to Barygaza, now Broach. Ptolemy
agrees with Arrian in placing Tagara and Plithana to the north of Godavari, but the

8

position of Tagara has not been quite identified^ although attempts have been made to
fix it near Daulatabad (Deogarh), Bhir, Junagar and Gulbarga,

Plithana is evidently Paithan, as it was about twenty days journey from, or 230 miles
south of Broach,* and if Ptolemy’s latitude and longitude be correct, Tagara should be
87 miles north-east of Paithan, or near Maiker in Berar.

The more general statements of Arrian and Ptolemy, however, place Tagara ten
days’ Journey east of Paithan, which would bring it near Nanded on the Godavari. The
remark in the Periplus that coarse dangaris, and very much fine linen, and muslins of sorts,
and mallow coloured stuffs, and other merchandise were taken to Tagara from ** parts
along the coast,” would seem to show that Tagara was also in connection with the Bay of
Bengal ; and it is known that even as early as the time of Sakya Muni, Kalinga on the east
coast was noted for the manufacture of fine muslins.

On the silver screen of Deccan history then flashed the Greeks (Yavanas), Scythians
(Sakas), and Parthians (Sahs), and the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kalachuriyas and
Yadavas, till we reach 1295 A.D. when Muslims first arrived in the Deccan — ^Aurangabad
district being almost the very first to feel their presence,

Ramadeva (Ramachandra) was the last of the independent Yadavas (1271-1310
A.D,), but his Minister, Hemadpanth, is now more well-known than the king himself.

Hemadpanth, or Hemadri, was not only the author of many books on Hindu law
and other subjects, but also the originator of the Hemadpanth! style of temple architecture,
as typified by numerous Hemadpanth! temples in the State today.

Alauddin Khiiji was the first to invade, defeating Ramadeva in 1295 A.D. when
the Yadavas became vassals of the Khlljis. Shankara, the last of his line, rebelled and
was put to death in 1310.

The romance of Deval Devi and Khizr Khan, which is the subject of Ashiqa of Amir
Khusro, occurred during this period and it was also during this period that Deogiri came
under the sway of the Khiljis, though the fort changed hands several times till 1318 wlien
it finally became an Imperial stronghold — Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah, Alauddin’s
successor, himself entering the fort. In JSfuh Sipahr^ Amir Khusro relates some of thts
incidents of this conquest.

Aurangabad district was also the scene of the exploits of the famous slave Kafur
Hazardinari, Alauddin’s favourite who rose to be the Malik Naib of the Khiiji Empire
and the main power behind the throne. He was murdered in Delhi only 35 days after
Alauddin’s death.

The district of Aurangabad twice had the privilege of becoming the seat of a united
India. The first attempt was made by Muhammad Tughlaq during the first half of
the 1 4th century, while Aurangzeb spent his last 25 years in the Deccan with Aurangabad
more or less as the headquarters of his government.

Aurangabad has been the home of Maratha saints and litterateurs, who initiated
great spiritual and literary movements. Notable authors whose works to this day illu-
minate t|ie pages of Indian literature are many. Among the very first was Salivahana

whose Kosha was a dictionary consisting 4,00,000 kathas, or Prakrit verses, in compiling
which he had the assistance of no less than six authors. Among Salivahana*s
other works are Salivahana Saptasati^ Salihotra and Gajachikitsa,

Paithan was once a seat of Sanskrit learning. Here also lived for a time the famous
Maratha saint Gnaneshwar, torch-bearer of a great religious message, who attacked
the snobbery of Sanskrit pundits and wrote a commentary on Srimad Bhagwad Gita^
which has become a masterpiece of Marathi literature. By carrying to the common
man religious literature that was until then locked up in classic Sanskrit, he created a
revolution.

Another Maratha saint was Eknath. He was the first Maratha social reformer to
launch an open attack on untouchability. Eknath’s grandson, Mukteshwar, was also
a great Marathi poet.

In the latter days, Sri Ramdas Swami (1608-1681 A.D.) also travelled in the
district. He was the spiritual guru of Shivaji, and in Saka 1571 (A.D. 1649) Shivaji
Chatrapati became his disciple. During his life-time, Sri Ramdas Swami was consi-
d<Ted an incarnation of Maruti or Hanuman. He was also a Prakrit writer and his Das
Bodh^ Sphut Abhang^ the Samos Atmaram and Manachei Slok are well-known. Similarly,
Amrit Rao (1698-1753) is noted for his katav style of writing which consists of padas of
60 syllables each. Among his well-known books are Draupadi Vastraharan^ Jivadasa^
Durvasa Tatra, Ramchandra Varnan, Ganapati Varnan, and a novel Druvacharita,

Among the Muslim writers were Kazi Shahabuddin Zawali, who was called “ king
of sages ” by his contemporaries, Shahnawaz Khan Samsamuddaula (1669-1751), the
author of Ma^athir-uUUmara, and Gulam Ali Khan Azad (born 1704).

Aurangabad is, and has always been, famous for its attractive textiles, like Jamiwar,
Mashru and Kamkhab, well-known to connoisseurs since 17th century,

AJANTA AND ELLORA

No visitor should leave India without seeing the rock-cut temples of Ajanta and
Ellora. If he is a lover of the beautiful, the visit will seem to him a pilgrimage, for few
other sites of past glory enshrine a nobler monument of man’s artistic achievement.

Ajanta is 65 miles north of Aurangabad city, while Ellora is 18 miles from the city.
There are excellent facilities for staying in Aurangabad and visiting the two places. Both
places are too well-known to need any description and the following is only meant as
hors d^osuvre.

Though cave-architecture is to be found in various other localities of Hyderabad
State and in other parts of India, yet nowhere such an admirable combination of archi-
tecture, sculpture and murals is to be seen in such great abundance and excellence
as at Ajanta.

In a beautiful glade circling the Waghara amidst superb scenery are the caves of
Ajanta consisting of twenty-four monasteries and five temples^ some of which ,are 2,000

10

years old. The crescent-shaped rock which overlooks it seems to have attracted the
fancy of Buddhist monks who selected this site for their cloister, some three centuries after
Gautama the Buddha (563 B.C. — 4r83 B.C.) had founded their order. For about a
thousand years, their pious hands chipped with chisel and mallet the living rock, fashioning
lofty and spacious shrines and monasteries.

It is noteworthy that the Buddhist rock-hewi monasteries were principally excavated
along the trade routes, where, like the Christian monasteries of the Middle Ages, they
ministered to the needs of travellers. In former times Ajanta lay on one of the main
routes from the north to the kingdom of the south and was known as the “ Gattnvay of
the Deccan/’

This rock-hewn architecture consists mainly of t’wo parts : chaifyas or chapels and
viharas or monasteries. There are twenty-nine of them including five chaUyas^ the largest
chamber hardly less spacious than the auditorium of a modeim theatre. Most of these an':
so constructed that a flood of natural light pours ixito them at some time of the day. Both
the facade and the inside of these chambers, popularly called caves, are decorated with
sculptures. On the walls inside are frescoes. The exuberance of sculpture and painting
leaves an unforgettable impression on the mind. Here Indian art attained the zenith of
artistic development and revealed a rhythm of life whose robust vitality still amazes us.
As has been stressed by an English critic, very rarely in the world’s history has there
come together such true symphony of the three arts — ^painting, sculpture and architecture
— as is so beautifully harmonised at Ajanta.

Almost all the walls, ceilings, pillars, etc. of all the caves retain traces of frescoes,
but Caves I, II, IX, X, XVI and XVII possess a stupendous wealth of frescoes, most of
which represent scenes from the Jataka-stories of Buddha’s previous births in various
forms — human, animal, reptile, bird and others.

The antiquity of these caves and frescoes ranges from the 2nd century B.C. to the 7th
century A,D. Despite the long intervals which separate these paintings in time, there is
a unity of conception and design which is truly remarkable. These frescoes draw their
themes from Buddhist folk-lore and relate the many legends woven round the life of
Buddha, Though the dominant motif is religious, the paintings in their range and
treatment are in reality an epic of the life of the people during eight centuries.

Next to the divine and serene atmosphere which hangs round the figures of Buddha
and Bodhisattavas, garlands of beautiful womanhood knitted round the figures of rajas,
noblemen and sages and sprinkled haphazard like flowers in scenes painted all over the
walls, bear ample testimony to the overflowing passion for woman-worship, as next only
to the gods.

The caves are on the second terrace and the 250 feet high perpendicular rock where
they commence is in the form of a semi-circle. The exquisite workmanship of the past
masters of the chisel and the easel lends an ecstatic charm to the glorious manifestation
of Nature in this beautiful place.

11

The Ajanta caves contain several figures of foreigners, such as Persians and Bactrians,
but the most interesting group is in a painting in Cave I representing the Iranian embassy
from Khusrav II, King of Persia (A.D. 591 to 628) to Pulakesin II (A.D. 609 to 610) of
Maharashtra,

Tabari, the Arab historian, gives clear evidence of the close relations between the
two kings. The date would be about 625 A.D.

The drinking scenes are copies of a picture by Indian artists of the same Khusrav II
and his famous queen, Sliirin.

Cave XVII at Ajanta has a painting of the embassy of Persian king Bahram Gaur
(A.D. 420-440) to the king of Malwa.

ELLORA

About a hundred miles from Ajanta, another crescent-shaped hill was likewise cut to
make the rock-hewn temples and monasteries of Ellora. Unlike Ajanta, the caves here
belong to the three great religions of India — Buddism, Jainism and Hinduism. The
earliest caves — Caves I to XII, belong to the Buddhist religion and range from the
second century B.G. to 7th ccniury A.D. Of these, Cave* X is the only chaitya at
Ellora, whereas the remaining eleven caves are viharas^ some of which are even three-
storeyed. The next in order are the Hindu caves — Nos. XIII to XXIX, which may
date from the 9th to 12th century A.D. Of this group, Cave XVI, the Kailasa, is
the largest, most elaborate and a miracle of patient human industry. And, according
to an inscription carved on it, is an achievement of the Rashtrakuta Prince Krishna
I, latter half of the 8th century A.D. The main temple is totally detached and is
situated in the middle of a quadrangular courtyard which is surrounded on three sides
by rows of sculptured galleries containing mostly subjects and scenes from the Saivaite
Pantheon, while the fourth or western side has the entrance through a portico. The
Kailasa temple, 164 ft. in length, 109 ft. in breadth and 96 ft. in height, scooped out of a
single rock, is lavishly carved and sculptured with life-size animals and images of gods
and goddesses. No nobler monument exists of Hindu genius, daring and skill.

Although hewn from the living rock, the Kailasa is intricate in design with ceilings,
pillars, and galleries full of bas-reliefs. Episodes from the Ramayana and the Maliabharata
occupy two of the walls. The elephant pediment of the main temple is a remarkable
work of art in itself. The other caves stretch along the hillside on either side of the Kailasa.

The third group, which is exclusively of the Jaina Cult, comprises of caves Nos. XXX
to XXXIV. These caves are interconnected and their architecture and sculpture appa-
rently show a downward trend when compared with the two former sets. The archi-
tecture of these caves is a poor imitation of the great Kailasa and is also called Chhota
Kailasa. The sculptures are mostly those of Jainas and Tirthankaras, and Indra and
Indranij, with their typical associations, adorn the more important positions in the

12

halls and galleries, as such the architecture of these Jaina Caves and their sculptures
are probably wanting in the all-permeating spirituality, grace and calm of the Buddhist
caves and the gorgeousness and vigour of the Hindu excavations.

In almost all the three sets of caves are to be found inscriptions wliich help in dating
them, and here and there are patches of frescoes which, on account of their poverty of
imagination and technique, fall far behind the superb murals of Ajanta.

Perhaps the most striking impression of the amazing works of art at Ellora is to be
obtained late in the afternoon when the setting sun shines straight into the interiors, and
gives the rock a brilliant crimson hue, seemingly bringing to life the colossal Buddhas
carved in the cells at the back of many of the caves.

Ellora is probably named after a legendary king, Raja Elu, who is said to have
founded the village and excavated the Kailasa out of gratitude for having been mira-
culously cured of a disease he was suffering from. The cure is believed to have been
effected by the waters of a tank near Ahalya Bai’s temple, close to Ellora. The tank is
even now known as Raja Elu’s tank.

Both Ajanta and Ellora can be visited from Aurangabad which is on the Central
Railway, 233 miles from Bombay and 320 miles from Hyderabad-Secunderabad. Visitors
from Bombay have to change at Manmad on the broad-guage system of the Central
Railway and from there proceed by the metre-guage train to Aurangabad. Convenient
connections for important trains can be had at Manmad both on the outward and on tlie
return journey. Visitors from Hyderabad can leave Hyderabad late in the evening
and arrive in Aurangabad next morning. An air service also connects Bombay with
Aurangabad. The State Hotel, Aurangabad, run by the Central Railway, is an excellent
place to stay.

Ajanta was known from times immemorial, but unsettled conditions in the Deccan
precluded popularity as well as proper caretaking. The British came to know of
Ajanta in 1819, but it was not until Fergusson published his paper on rock-cut
temples that general interest was fully aroused in 18i3. Subsequently, the Govern-
ment of India stationed Major Gill at Ajanta who copied a magnificient series of
frescoes in 1857 which were exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, and
perished with it in fire in 1866.

Since then, however, the State has been taking a keen interest in Ajanta and
Ellora, and from 1920 has taken special sedulous care of both monuments. Professors
Lorenzo Cecconi and Orsini were employed to repair and renovate the frescoes,
which work they did with the help of Indian experts.

Following integration of the State with the Republic of India, both Ajanta and
Ellora have becomci a charge upon Gk>vernment of India’s Archaeological Depart-

15

ment, though the Statens department of Archaeology continues to act as their agent.

AHALYA BAI TEMPLE

This temple built by Ahalya Bai in the 13th century is famous for its Jyotirlingam.
The temple is in Kannad taluq not very far from Ellora.

ANTUR

There is an ancient fort at Antur upon the summit of a ghat which projects into Khan-
desh. Persian inscriptions on pillars^ and in a mosque inside the fort, date from 1591,
1598, 1616 and 1625 — the Nizamshahi period.

AURANGABAD CITY

This city has many interesting features for the sight-seer, unique among them is the
water-supply system built by Malik Ambar, the founder of the city, in 1610. The Pan-
chakki or water-mill still exists and is a beauty spot. Some of the 17 original under-
ground channels are still in use. Close to it are the Dargah of Baba Shah Musafir, the
spiritual preceptor of Aurangzeb, a mosque and a serai.

The Naukhanda Palace and Kali Masjid are other constructions dating from
Malik Ambar’s time. The palace was enlarged and finished by the first Nizam.
The Shah Gunj Jami Masjid is the principal place of Muslim worship. This mosque
and the Chowk Masjid were built by Shaista Khan in the reign of the first Nizam,
Asaf Jah 1.

Lai Masjid, a later Moghul mosque, is so called because of its red stone architecture.
Qila Arak is also a Moghul palace, later extended by the Nizams.

The mausoleum of RabPa Daurani, Aurangzeb’s Queen, is the Taj of the South in
every respect except architectural greatness, and called Bibi-ka-Maqbara. The mauso-
leum was designed after the Taj Mahal at Agra, and erected between 1650 and 1657*
It is situated in a beautiful garden laid out with fountains and cypress trees. Portions
of the tomb are in pure white marble, the remainder being in beautiful stucco plaster
with very rich specimens of arabesque.

AURANGABAD CAVES

Less than a mile north-west of Bibi-ka-Maqbara arc three sets of Buddhist caves
dating from the 2nd to 7th century A.D. They represent both the chaitya and vihara
types, but while some caves have remained imfinished, others have been damaged by
land-slides.

The caves may be. generally compared with those of Ajanta in architecture and

14

sculpture — although they have almost been stripped of their frescoes by the inclemencies
of weather. Cave III (vihara) has a carved frieze representing Sutasome Jataka,
which is more prominent and pronounced here than that in Gave XVII at Ajauta,
a fresco. Similarly, the t^ro groups of votaries in front of the Buddha in temple III
are the best specimens of their kind. The sculptures are life-size and full of life. The
dresses of the figures are scanty and the coiffeurs and contours of the bodies of the
female figures^ and the matted locks of the male votaries are extremely pleasing and
realistic. The figure of Padmapani, with eight panels representing Buddhist litany on
either side of the figure, is superior to any group either at Ajanta and Ellora or any-
where else in India. Likewise, the dance scene in the same temple, with Tara in
the middle and three female votaries on either side, may well stand comparison with the
Nataraja scene in Cave XVI at Ellora.

Much has been done to repair and conserve these cav^es and to make them accessible
by constructing a fair-weather road from the Begumpura Darwaza of Aurangabad. /\
flight of steps has been constructed from the foot of the hill and a bridle path has been
made out on the brow of the hill to communicate with all the three sets of caves.

BHOKARDAN CAVE

At Bhokardan there is an underground excavation comprising of chambers, shrines and
a verandah facing a quadrangular court. The sculptures belong to the Vaishnavite cult
and the cave may be ascribed to the 8th or 9th century A.D. from the characters of the
carved inscription in its verandah. As the cave has been hewn out on the bank of the
Kelna, the waters of the river used to cause constant damage to it, but this has been
checked by the construction of a strong masonry dam which has ensured the safety of the
cave. There is also a neolithic sire in Bhokardan.

In the same taluq there are Buddhist caves dating from 6th to 7th century A.D. at
Ghatotkatch. The Baitalbari fort, also in the Bhokardan taluq, has some remarkable
fortifications, bastions and inscriptions.

DAULATABAD

Daulatabad is Deogiri (Devagiri) of old, and this is where Muhammad Tughlaq set up
the capital of his Indian Empire after shifting from Delhi.

The place is celebrated as the capital of the Seunas, more commonly known by their
assumed name of Yadavas, who rose from the position of feudatories of the Chalukyas to
that of independent princes. Bhillamma I, who threw off allegiance about 1 187, is said
by Hemadri to have founded Deogiri. Has grandson, Singhana, acquired practically
the whole of the Western Chalukyan kingdom.

Ala-ud-din Khiiji captured the fort in 1294, and this event marks the first invasion
of the Deccan by the Muslims. The fort was restored to the Raja on hk agreeing

15

to pay tribure, but later expeditions were undertaken on account of default. Deogiri
was occupied by Malik Kafur in 1307 and 1310 , and in 1318 the last raja, Harpal, was
fla}'ed alive.

In 1338, Muhammad Tughlaq attempted to transfer his capital from Delhi to Deogiri
and his unfortunate subjects were forced to migrate to the new seat of government. After a
period of seventeen years, the citizens were permitted to return to Delhi, but most of the
exiles were so disconsolate that they preferred to undertake the v^"earisome journey of
six hundred and ten miles northwards rather than remain in that city. He changed
■Deogiri to Daulatabad and from here he directed his campaigns against the rajas of
Warangal. Troubles having broken out in northern India, the king left his new capital to
suppress them. During his absence, the Muslim governors of the newly acquired provinces
revolted, and in the confusion which ensued Zafar Khan, the governor of Gulbarga,
succeeded in capturing Daulata]>ad, which remained in the possession of the Bahmanis until
1526 when it was taken by the Nizam Shahis, to be again wrested from them by z\kbar.
After the fall of Ahmadnagar, the Nizam Shahi capital was transferred to Khirki, the
present Aurangabad, and Daulatabad was retaken to remain in their possession until it
was captured in 1633 by Shah Jahan’s general. It remained part of the Maghul empire
until after Aurangzeb’s death, when it came into the possession of Asaf Jah, the first
Nizam of Hyderabad.

The fortress is built upon a conical rock, scraped to a height of 150 feet from the
base. The hill upon which it stands, rises almost perpendicularly from the plain to a
height of about 2,250 feet above sea level. The outer wall is 2| miles in circumference
with three lines of fortifications between it and the base of the upper fort. The outer
wall formerly enclosed the ancient city of Deogiri, but a village is now all that remains.

The fort has altogether eight gates , and several pieces of ordnance are still to be
seen on the bastions.

An interesting feature of the fort is its underground passage, known as the Andheri,”
cut in the bowels of the rock. Here and there in the dark passage are pitfalls designed to
throw the uninitiated down into the deep moat below. The end of the passage has been
provided with a large iron grating on which fire used to be kindled at the time of
invasion in order to make the passage intolerably hot and smoky for the invader. There
are some unfinished caves cut under the great rock of the fort which from their mode of
excavation and carving, appear to be contemporaneous with the Ellora caves — particularly
those of the Hindu period.

Besides the fortifications, the chief buildings are the Chand Minar and Chini Mahal.
The Chand Minar, which is 210 feet high and 70 feet in circumference at the base, was
erected by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his conquest of the fort. The basement
is 15 feet high, containing twenty-four chambers and the whole pillar was originally
covered with glazed Persian tiles of much beauty. It is considered as one of the most stri-
king pieces of Muslim architecture in Southern India. To the south of this, is a small

16

mosque, with a Persian inscription giving the date of its erection as 849 Hijri (1445).
The Chini Mahal, or ‘ china palace, ^ which was once a building o£ great beauty, is 40
feet to the right of the eighth gate of the fort. It was here that Abul Hasan Tana Shah,
the last of the Qutb Shahi kings, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.

Very little is left of the buildings of the old Hindu period except, the remains of Kali-
ka-Deval, the middle portion of which was converted into mosque by Malik Kafur.
Close to this mosque is the Jami Masjid which has Hindu pillars and lintels. This is said
to have been constructed by Mubarak Khilji in 1313 A.D. and later on the coronation of
Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahmani, the first Sultan and founder of the Bahmani Dy-
nasty, was performed in this mosque in 1347 A.D. Firishta has given a graphic des-
cription of the ceremony.

Apart from this, there are a clear water spring, known as the ‘ Kaori Tanka % an
elephant pool called the Hathi Houz, Janardhan Swami’s Samadhi, and some palaces
attributed to Shah Jahan and some others to the Nizam Shahi kings of Ahmadnagar.

Daulatabad fort is about one mile from the railway station of that name on the
road to Ellora, but the fort can be conveniently visited from Aurangabad on the trip to
Ellora caves by road, as there are no cars available at Daulatabad station.

JALNA

Jalna has many old buildings dating from the Muslim period but the only protected
monument in the town is a neolithic site where cores, flakes and similar antiquities were
discovered.

Thirty miles from Jalna station is the Assaye battlefield where Wellesley defeated
the Marathas on the fateful 23rd of September 1803, a turning point in the history of
British India. The battle may be said to have anticipated the fate of the French armies
at AVaterloo because the Maratha army was French trained and staffed with Frenchmen,

Local tradition not only places the founding of the town as far back as the days of
the Ramayana but also assexts that Shri Rama himself liven here for a time. It is said
that the town was then named Jan akpur.

During Akbar’s time Abul Fxzal received the town as a grant and lived licre for a
time as shown by his correspondence with Prince Danial.

KHULDABAD

Khuldabad, four miles %vest of Daulatabad, is a town of tombs and mausoleums and
here he burned saints, sovereigns and courtiers. Aurangzeb ; Abul Hasan Tana Shah,
the last king of Golconda ; Ahmad and Burhan Nizam Shahs, Hngs of Ahmednagar ;
Malik Arnbar ; Prince Azam Shah ; Khan-i-Jahan; Munim Khan; Bani Begum, great-
grand-daughter of Aurangzeb ; Asaf Jah I, the ^t Nizam ; Nasir Jung Shahecd; and

17

saints Zainul Haq, Burhanuddin and Raju Qattal are those whom history has known
and whose tombs and graves can be seen even today.

Also in the taluq are two serais built by Aurangzcb, at Fardapur and Ajanta Serai^
a Jami Masjid constructed by Nizam I and the Baradari of Salar Jung 1.

PAITHAN

Easily accessible too is Paithan, 35 miles south of Aurangabad. It is beautifully situa-
ted on the north bank of the river Godavari and is looked upon by the Hindus as a sacred
place.

According to tradition Paithan was founded by Brahma who, after having created
the world, selected this spot on the banks of the sacred Godavari, as his residence.

Brahma is said to have named his abode Patan ( “ flourishing city ), by which
appellation it continued to be known until the god, becoming jealous of the superior
attractions of the other holy places which had come into existence after he had estab-
lished himself at Paithan, changed the name of the place to Pratisthan, a Sanskrit
term signifying that the city resembled the celestial abode of the gods.

Fiom this circumstance, it is alleged, the city acquired additional sanctity, which
enabled it to compete sucessfully with its rivals. These particulars and many others of
a similar nature are set forth in the Prathisthan Makatmya, a legendary account of the
origin of ihe city.

In ancient Pali literature and the records of the Buddhist bhikshus, ‘Patitthana* has
been mentioned as the southern terminus of the Savatthi-Patitthana trade-route and des-
cribed as a flourishing town nestling on the banks of the Godavari. Arrian, the Greek
traveller, has called this town ‘ Pleithan and Ptolemy, the Egyptian geographer and
astronomer, travelling in India in the first half of the second century A.D. recorded
that ‘ Baithana ’ was the capital of ‘ Siro Polomaios % Pulumavi II (138-70 B.G.), and
the author of the Periplus of the Eythrean Sea called the town by the name of
* Poethana,” while Pliny, the Roman Historian of the first century A.D., pays a high
tribute to this town by stating that it is ** the glorious capital of the Andhras.*’

In one of the inscriptions of the Pithalkhora Caves and also in the Pratisthana Maha^
tmya — a legendary account which deals with the events relating to the founding of the
city — the name of the town is recorded and preserved as ‘ Pratisthana.* In one of
Asoka’s inscriptions, mention is made of Buddhist missionaries having been sent to the
‘Petenikas,* which can be no other than the people of Paithan.

Known to the ancients by various names, and celebrated for exporting textiles, beads
and onyx stone through Barygaza (modern Broach), the town of Paithan, was the sub-
capital of the Andhrabhrityas^ a branch of the great Andhra stock. Originally, the
Andhra kings had their capital at Dhanyakatak (modem Amaravati) near the delta of the
Krishna but towards the end of the first century A.D. they felt the necessity of having

BHIR

F

AR from the madding crowd, in the picturesque hinterland of Hyderabad, the
district of Bhir nestles among rivers, ravines and green hills, where at one time railway,
telegraph and post office were almost unknown, but where amenities of civilization are
now available. In Purli, traces of prehistoric culture have been discovered and similar
artifacts probably await any Leonard Woolley or Carter who may undertake a survey.

According to tradition, Bhir was called Durgavati during the time of the Pan-
davas and Kurus, and its name was subsequently changed to Balni; but Champavati,
Vikramaditya’s sister, after capturing it, called it Champavatinagar. Nothing definite
is known of its history; but it must have been included successively in the kingdoms of
the Andhras, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, and the Yadavas of Deogiri, from whom
it passed to Muslim kings of Delhi.

Bhaskaracharya, India’s renowned medieval mathematician and astronomer, and
author of Lilavati and the Siddkanta Shiromani^ is believed to have made the first reference
to Bhir. In his works which are dated circa 1 1 14 to 1128 A.D. it is related that Bhas-
karacharya was bom in Vijjal Vida, in the Sahya range, which isakinto“Beed” or Bhir.

; . THE TOMB OF THE ROYAL TOOTH

Bhir definitely appears in history in 1326 A.D., when Muhammad Tughlaq passed
through it and changed Champavatinagar to Bhir. It is said by Firishta that he lost
one of his teeth here, which was buried with royal pomp. This tradition is still prevalent
in Bhir, and a small tower built on a mountainous track at Ranjani, eight miles south-
east of Bhir town, is pointed out as the tomb of the royal tooth.

After the Tughlaqs, the town fell successively to the Bahmani, the Nizam Shahi and
the Adilshahi kingdoms, and eventually the Moghuls captured Bhir in 1635, During the
Asaf Jahi period the boundaries of the Suba were always shifting, while great portions

22

passed into the hands of the Marathas.

The battle of Rakshasbhuvan took place in the Bhir district in 1763, on the bank
of the Godavari, about 70 miles north-west of Bhir, where Nawab Nizam Ali Khan
was defeated by Raghunath Rao and Madhav Rao and though Vithal Sunder, llte Prime
Minister, and Vinayakdas, his nephew, were killed the incendiarism of Nizam Ali
Khan at Poona was partly requited.

Another historical significance which attaches to Bhir district is tliat itw^as tiu* i>irih
place of Devi Ahalya Bai, who was born circa 1725 at Cliondhe. Her father, jMnukoje<*
Scindia, was a patel of the place. Devi Ahalya Bai was born in th(' Stat<" but tIu*
perfume of her creative, constructive and artistic career has permeated the whoU; world
to this day.

Bhir district has offered a fertile field for the free play of poetic genius in Marathi
literature. Nine poets of the first rank were born in the district, of whom Mukund Raj
and Dasopant are of immortal fame. Mukund Raj was looked upon as the oldest poet in
Marathi before the discovery of the treasures of the Mahanubhavi literature. His literary
brocades are woven out of the warp and woof of philosophy and poctr^^ The Vmk
SindhUy Paramarnrifa 2 indi the Panchi Karana are some of his outstanding creations.
The samadbi of Mukund Raj is at Ambajogai, in a lovely gieu which resonates with tin*
sweet music of cooing birds and a babbling brook.

Dasopant is the most prolific writer in Marathi, almost unexcelled by any other
contemporary, irrespective of language. He also flourished in Ambajogai between 1550
and 1615 A.D. He was a profound scholar of philosophy as revealed in Srimad Bhagwad
Gita. He wrote volumes of commentary. A fragment of his works which has been
published covers 1,080 pages, but the MS could fill 15,000 printed pages. As he could
not obtain paper he wrote on pasodi ’’ — thick khaddar cloth. One such piece is in
an excellent condition of preservation and measures 24 by 2.J cubits. Lovers of art
and literature should see that this precious memento is not lost. Dasopant preached
that activism, Karma Yoga, ’’ was the keynote of the Gita^ and anticipated Lokmanya
Tilak centuries ago.

BHIR CITY

Two temples* in this city, the Khahqah and the Khandeshwari Deval, are among
the many notable features of the city. Though the superstructures still stand in lovely
surroundings, the worshippers have lost regard for them. The main temple has lost
the images of its deity, styled Kanakeshwar, but it is called Khanqah temple. This
temple is a beautiful island in a tank almost square in plan, and with a fine parapet
of chiselled masonry on one side. The temple is approached by a causeway of solid 62
feet masonry. The whole scene portrays the high sense of beauty and cultural values
of medieval times.

The other temple, known as Khandeshwari Deval, is perched on an eminence

23

200 feet away from the town. The original image is missing and a detached sculpture of
Mhalsa and Khandoba is placed as a deputy for worship. The salient features of the
temple are the two dipdans Avhich rise to 45 feet. These towers are built on square bases.
Their girth above the square basement is over 48 feet while at the top they taper up to
28 feet.

Among the other monuments of interest are the dargah of Pir Bala Shah, a mile
and half from the town towards Patoda, which was built in 1778, and the Jami Masjid
which is in the centre of the town. The masjid has an inscription indicating that it was
constructed in 1660 A.D. The dargahs of Shahinshah Wali and Mansur Shah are also
important shrines.

The water system of Bhir, like all other historical places in the Deccan such as Aurang-
abad, Poona and Satara, has a khazana baoli or a reser\"oir tank from which pipes were
introduced in the town.

Road Transport buses running from Jalna, Aurangabad, and Yarmala via Ambajogai
have made Bhir accessible.

AMBAJOGAI-MOMINABAD

This is a twin city with the river Jivanti in between, and the town of Amba on the
northern bank.

The Pancham Jainas of Amba are said to be the descendants of a feudatory of the
Chalukyas, and are now represented by tlie Pancham Lingayats, In one of the bastions
of the town is an old temple, built during the reign of Singhana, the Yadava king of
Deogiri, which contains an inscription dated 1240. A number of ruined cave-temples,
both Brahmanical and Jaina, are situated in the vicinity.

Most important is the temple of Ambajogai, on the bank of the Jivanti, which consists
of a small pavillion in the middle of a courtyard, and a great hall 90 feet by 45 cut in the
rock. It is supported by four rows of pillars.

The sarnadhi of Mukund Raj, the Marathi poet, is also located here.

DHARUR

A fort built by Ahmadnagar kings and a mosque built in the Hindu style of archi-
tecture are prominent features here. The mosque was built by one of Muhammad
Tughlaq’.s generals.

PURLI

Purli is the seat of a Swayambhu Jyotirlinga, self-created luminous phallus of Siva.
There are two others : one at Aundha in Parbhani, and the other at Verul in Aurangabad.
In the whole of India there are 12 such Jyotirlingas, those at Kasi and Rameshwar being
the most prominent ones. The main temple was constructed by Devi Ahalya Bai, and an
inscription on the silver leaf of the door bears testimony to this. At one time Purli was
the centre of Brahminic learning.

BIDAR

V

▼ IDHARBHA of Mahabharata fame is the Bidar of today. The great epic relates
how King Nala, of Malwa, came to woo Damayanti the beautiful, the daughter of Raja
Bhim Sen of Vidharbha. Faizi, Akbar’s poet laureate, has rendered the romance in im-
mortal Persian. The Mahabharata also sings of Sri Krishna and His love for the sister
of Raja Rukma, another King of Vidharbha. This princess renounced the world and
followed Krishna to the forest of Bhatkuli. And as one glides down the stream of time
one sees again the “ Sweet-voiced ” Peri Chehreh of Bidar winning over Prince Alauddin
from his consort, Malikai-Jehan.

Modern investigations in epigraphy and numismatics have proved conclusively
that the ancient kingdom of Vidharbha, which is mentioned repeatedly in early Sanskrit
literature, corresponded with Berar and Khandesh, but the name, curiously enough, sur-
vives in Bidar, which may have been an important town.

Kalyani the capital of the later Chalukyas is a historic place in Bidar district. Bil-
hana, the great Sanskrit scholar, has in his inimitable Vikramadeva Charitra immortalized
Vikramaditya’s reign. The glory of Kalyani in his reign is recorded in the following
neswara : There has not been, there is not and there will not be on the surface of the

earth a city like Kalyana.’*

The later Chalukyas (974 to 1190 A.D.') were the last to rule a unified Deccan and
the disintegration which followed upon their collapse has lasted to this day. The
Yadavas of Deogiri and the Kakatiyas of Warangal were the first to revolt against the
Chalukyas and become independent. In the later part of the 12th century so weak had
the Chalukyas become that Bijjala the Kalachuri, a soldier of fortune, usurped the throne
and set himself up as a ruler at Kalyani, the Chalukyan capital.

Firishta and Muhammad Salih both described Bidar as the seat of the government of
the Raes of the Deccan, but their infoi-mation seems to have been based merely on tradi-
tion, and probably what they mean is that Bidar was a flourishing provincial seat when it

26

was besieged and captured by Muhammad Tughlaq, then Prince Jauna Khan, in 1322
A.D. Genarally speaking, the history of Bidar begins with the Muslim conquest of
the Deccan, and lasts till it was finally captured by the hosts of Aurangzeb.

Bidar is a place to delight the heart of the poet and artist, as well as the archaeologist.
There is something about the red walls and cactus-covered ruins, which makes a strong
appeal to the aesthetic sense, while at the same time conjuring up visions of a romantic
past. The poetry which seems to express the spirit of the place in the most appropriate
language is that of Omar Khayyam :

Think I in this battered caravanserai^

Whose doorways are alternate night and day^

How sultan after sultan^ in his pomp^

Abode his hour or so^ and went his way.

Fifteen kings ruled at Bidar, and among them were rulers of every type familiar to the
reader of eastern literature. The righteous ruler, the cruel tyrant, the valiant leader,
and the decadent weakling, all have their place in the annals of the Bahmani and the
Baridi dynasties.

BAHMANI KINGDOM

In 1345 the centurians of the Tughlaq army raised the standard of revolt first in Gujerat
and then in the Deccan, while Kanhayya Naik declared himself independent in Warangal
in 1346. Muhammad Tughlaq’s generals were unable to quell the rebellion in Daulat-
abad despite the changing fortunes of warfare, and ultimately a centurian Hasan, entitled
Zafar Khan, marched upon Daulatabad after reducing Bidar and set himself up as Abul
Muzaffar Alauddin Bahman Shah Hasan Gangu. Thus was launched into history the
famous Bahmani dynasty which lasted from 13 1-7 to 1525.

The dynastic title Bahmani is of controversial origin. According to Firishta, “ it has
been asserted that he ( Ala-ud-Din ) was descended from Bahman, one of the ancient kings
of Persia, and I, the author, have even seen a pedigree of him so derived in the royal library
of Ahmudnuggur, but it was probably only framed after his accession to the throne, by
flatterers and poets, for I believe his origin was too obscure to admit of its being traced.
The application of Bahmuny he certainly took out of compliment to his master, Gungoo,
the Brahmin, a word often pronounced Bahman. The king himself was by birth an
Afghan.’*

Gangu was a Brahmin astrologer due to whose recommendation Hasan, his servant,
was taken into the Imperial Army by Muhammad Tughlaq.

The Cambridge History of India, however, asserts that this version is absurd and that
Alauddin Hasan claimed descent from the Iranian hero Bahman, son of Isfandyar, as
shown by recently found inscriptions.

Bahman Shah made Gulbarga his capital but in 1423 the ninth of the Bahmanis,

27

Ahmad Shah Wall, changed the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar, According to Dr Ghu-
1am Yazdani, “ historians have given various reasons for the transfer of the capital from
Gulbarga, among which the old Indian tale of the hunt of a fox by dogs and the extra-
ordinary courage of the latter also occurs. This tale is not worthy of consideration, for it
had been told by Indian writers in connection with the foundation of other ancient towns.
The real reasons for the choice of Bidar were its central position in the kingdom, its natural
defences, and its invigorating climate. The three principal divisions of the Deccan —
Telingana, the Carnatic and Maharashtra — converge towards Bidar; and the situation of
the city on the brink of a plateau about two hundred feet above the adjoining plains would
have made it difficult to attack in those days. The perennial springs jand the abundance
of verdure and fruit trees, which are still the attractive features of Bidar, must have further
influenced the king in preferring it to Gulbarga for the seat of his government.” Thus
Bidar soon became a great and flourishing capital.

THE BARID SHAHIS

By 1492, the Bahmani empire disintegrated into the kingdoms of Ahmadnagar, Berar
and Bijapur, whose Governors became independent and founded the Nizam Shahi, the
Imad Shahi and the Adil Shahi dynasties, while Qasim Barid, a Bahmani Minister,
set himself up as the ruler in defiance of the helpless Mahmud Shah Bahmani and his
successors — the nominal kings. Thus came the Barid Shahis of Bidar. Ali Barid was
the first of the dynasty to become Shah formally in 1549.

In 1619 Ibrahim Adil Shah II annexed Bidar to the Adil Shahi kingdom and ended
the Barid Shahi rule. Bidar remained a part of the Adil Shahi kingdom till 1656. In
1656, Aurangzeb captured Bidar in 21 . days. It continued to be under the Moghuls till
Nizam I founded the Asafia kingdom.

Qasim Barid was a Turk from Georgia, who was brought to the Deccan as a young
boy by Khwaja Shihabuddin Ali Yazdi and given in service to Muhammad Shah Bah-
mani III. He was an expert in handwriting* and also played well on musical instruments.

Ali Barid, the third of the line, was so cunning that historians have styled him * the
Fox of the Deccan ’ — Rubah-e-Deccan.

CITY OF A THOUSAND LEGEND

Around Bidar have grown legends of kings, saints and jinns as could be expected
for even though the saint and the king were very different types of individuals, yet both
played an essential role in the same cultural complex. Nearly all Bidar legends contain
references to some holy man who appeared at crucial moments to deliver u message of
inspiration or to prophesy the downfall of the wicked and the victory of the righteous.
The influence of these saints continued after their death, for the tombs of holy men

28

provide places of w'orship, second only in importance to the mosque.

Every^vhere it is remarkable that the functional significance of the tombs and mosques
is still alive and active^ while the ** secular ” architecture reminds one of some beautiful
piece of medieval armour^ in its remoteness from the conditions of life. But to the average
fifteenth century inhabitant of Bidar^ the fortifications and palaces must have seemed
far more exciting than the religious buildings.

Most beautiful of all Bidar tombs is that of Ahmad Wali. In this building, Persian
designs of great loveliness are crowded into every available space of wall and ceiling,
while inscriptions in gold and precious stones gleam out from a blue and vermilion
background, conveying to those who can decipher them glimpses of Sufic philosophy
and the mysticism of Islam.

In this connection it is significant that the Sufic inscriptions which line the walls and
ceiling are expressions of a philosophy which bears a very close resemblance to ^'Bhakti.”
The tomb of Ahmad Shah is an interesting example of the sacred spot whose mana ”
is so strong that it overcomes the ordinary religious differences and draws people together
in a common desire to worship.

Most significant is the attempt to forge a common Indo-Muslim culture, for though
the architectural inspiration undoubtedly came from Iran, many features do integrate
Indian motifs with the Iranian and the Arab.

Conspicuous is the use of the Swastika as an ornament in the tomb of Ahmad Shah
Wali and the audience hall in the fort. On the southern wall of Ahmad Shah Wall’s tomb
is a large black calligraphic device in ^vhich the two names of the Prophet, Muhammad
and Ahmad, have been inscribed in the form of a beautiful Swastika.

In the audience hall, ‘Ali, the name of the Prophet’s cousin and the fourth Caliph, is
similarly made up into another Swastika on the tiles.

In such a city of saints and Jinns ” one is not surprised to find that the tombs of the
wicked kings, Humayun the tyrant, and Muhammad Shah III, who murdered his inno-
cent old minister, have been destroyed by lightning and lie in heaps of blackened ruin.
Retribution seems to have acted in Bidar as inevitably as in the old fashioned fairy talc.

BIDAR FORT

One fact of historical importance connected with the Bidar fort is that it marks the first
use of gunpowder in the Deccan. The fort was constructed (1429-32) by Ahmad Shah
Wali on the site of an old Hindu fort known even now as the Purana Qila. As a result of
the invasion by Sultan Mahmood Khilji of Malwa fortifications had been destroyed and
had to be rebuilt during the reign of Nizam Shah Bahmani (1461-3), but it was during the
reign of Muhammad Shah Bahmani that alterations were probably made to safeguard
against gunpowder.

-rThc Foft has a triple moat on the southern side, a double on the north-western and a

29

single on the other sides. It has seven gates. Notable palaces and pavilions are Rangin
Mahal, Chini Mahal, Turkash Mahal, Gagan Mahal, Takht Mahal and the Hall of Audi-
ence hile the Thousand Cells is a subterranean structure. The Soiah Khamb Mosque
and the Virasangayya Temple are also conspicuous. A beautiful cistern marks the site
of the La'l Bagh or Ruby Garden.

I'he Rangin Mahal is a masterpiece in brick, stone, plaster and wood and is decorated
with exquisite Persian tile-work and mother-of-pearl inlay. The architecture in various
coui'ts of the palace belong to both the Bahmani and Baridi periods.

Turkash Mahal was built for a Turkish wife of some Bahmani king : but here again the
Baridi kings have left their stamp too. Gagan Mahal, or the heavenly palace, was origin-
ally built by Bahmani kings and extended by Baridi rulers. The Hall of Audience was also
called the Jali Mahal on account of screens of trellis-work, traces of which are still found.
The Takht Mahal was built by Ahmad Shah Wali and is so called because its magnificence
led the public to consider it the throne room of the Bahmani kings.

Hazar Kothn\ or thousand cells, are a group of underground rooms. The rooms do
not number thousand but the designation is based on a tradition that this part of the fort
was one time honeycombed with underground vaults and secret passages. Evident!)’
these were intended to be the escape-valve in case of serious trouble when safety demanded
flight or concealment.

The Soiah Khamb Mosque, also known as Zanana Masjid because it is near the
harem, is so called because of its 16 columns. Originally it was the principal mosque,
Masjid-e-Jami of Bidar, where State functions of religious character as well as Friday
prayers were conducted. It \vas here that in 1656 Aurangzeb hastened to have a kkutba
recited in the name of Shah Jahan as a proclamation of Moghul sovereignty. An inscrip-
tion found in the vicinity establishes that the mosque was constructed during the reign of
Sultan Muhammad Bahmani by Qubli Sultani. The mosque ranks among the largest in
India.

Virasangayya’s temple is on the eastern side of the Long Gun Bastion which is on the
tip of a spur. The Long Gun itself is beautifully carved, the patterns representing the
chain, beads (Rudraksha or Rudra’s eyes), leaves with stalks and birds — an excellent,
example of Hindu workmanship. The temple has a Saiyite deity, and the western cham-
ber contains the samadhi of Yirasangayya, a local hero who is said to have been a Lingayal,

The guard-houses and passages, which once provided shelter for panthers and other
beasts, have been cleared of the debris of centuries, while excavation work in the fort has
revealed unexpected subterranean apartments, and a secret passage leading outside the
city walla.

An old legend maintains that vast treasures taken from the Hindu kingdom of
Vijayanagar lie hidden in Bidar fort and it is said that the secret of their hiding place
remained for gkierations in a certain family of seneschels, which, although ofTered

30

large sums of money to reveal the secret, preferred to carry it to the grave.

THE TOWN

The town enjoys a picturesque situation on the brink of a plateau which commands the
plains around.

Bidar can appropriately be also called ‘ the City of Seven Springs because abun-
dant water is provided by seven natural springs having a perennial flow.

Walled, fortified and having five gates, the town has many mosques, tombs, monaster-
ies and other monuments of note, but it is not possible to describe all of them. The Ghau-
bara, the Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan, Takht Kirmani, Jami Masjid, the Khass Mahal,
Cheeta Khana and Ali Bagh, the Mosque of Khalilullah Khan, the tomb of Multani
Padshah, the Mosque of Khan Jehan Barid, the Haveli of Afzaluddowla are noteworthy
buildings. Among the monasteries are those of saints and religious leaders such as Nur
Samnani, Abul Faiz, Waliullah, Ali Husaini, Mahbub Subhani, Makhdum Q^adri and
Minatullah Bi. Some of these saints have their tombs in the suburbs, which are regarded
as shrines,

Bidar is unique in having four old schools of physical or military training. These
schools are in the four quarters of the city and are called : The Manhiyar Ta’lim or Bangle
Seller’s school in the north, the Abbas Pansali ki Ta’lim or water miller’s school in the
south, Noor Khan ki Ta’lim in the east and Siddiq Shah ki Ta’lim in the west. In these
schools old military exercises, fencing, wrestling and similar subjects were taught.

The Chaubara is a tower reported to be the stump of the dipdan of a lofty temple,
but architecturally it is Islamic and resembles the towers of western Asia notably that of
the great mosque at Samarra.

The Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan is not only the most imposing building of the
Bahmani period, but in its plan and architecture it is a unique monument in India. Mah-
mud Gawan, the founder of the Madrasa, had himself come from Gilan, and as even du-
ring his stay in the Deccan he was continually in correspondence with eminent personages
in Persia, it is not unlikely that he brought engineers and craftsmen from that country to
design this building. The plan, however, for such institutions in Islamic countries had
become stereotyped in the beginning of the fourteenth century A.D., if not earlier; for the
Madrasas at Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat and other places in north-west Africa, have almost
the same plan, although they do not possess either the stately round minarets which existed
here, or such grand entrances as that which once adorned the eastern facade of the Mad-
rasa of Bidar. The latter features evidently came into the Deccan from Persia, and a
striking resemblance may ^e noticed between the plan, the architectural style and the
decorative detail of this building and those of the Madrasa of Khargird near Meshhed.
The latter was buflt in A.D. 1444 by order of Abu’l-Muzaffar Khan son of Shahrukh

31

Mirza, and the mosaic workers were two artisans from Shiraz.

The Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan was built in A.D. 1472, that is, twenty-eight years
after the Madrasa at Khargird, which, according to the authorities who have visited the
school, in its palmy days was the finest building of its kind in Khurasan. Another school
which enioyed a high reputation both for the beauty of its architecture and for the high
standard of its learning, particularly mathematical studies, was Ulugh Beg’s Madrasa at
Samarqand built in 828 H. (A.D. 1425). According to Firishta, Mahmud Gawan was a
great scholar and ‘ in Mathematics he had few equals.’ That he was familiar with the
college of Ulugh Beg at Samarqand is thus extremely likely, and this surmise is strengthen-
ed when we learn further that Mahmud Gawan ‘ remitted annually valuable prsents to
several learned men in Khorassan,’ some of whom apparently were on the staff' of Ulugh
Beg’s College. Mahmud Gawan, under the aegis of the Bahmani kings, who were enthu-
siastic patrons of learning and architecture, was thus able to found a college at Bidar on
the same magnificent lines as its prototypes in Khurasan and other Islamic countries, and
he not only staffed it with eminent divines, philosophers, and scientists, but also equipped
it with a library of 3,000 valuable manuscripts.

In 1696, the building suffered great damage from lightning which deprived it of half
of its front and half of its southern wing.

GAWAN’S MARTYRDOM

One of the greatest personalities of the Deccan, Mahmud Gawan suffered a tragic fate.
After 35 years of distinguished and exceptional service to the Bahmani Kingdom, he was
cruelly put to death on April 5, 1481, at the ripe age of 78. At that time there were two
factions, the Deccanis led by Malik Hasan, Miftah the African and others, and the foreig-
ners among whom was Mahmud Gawan. The Deccani party conspired against Mahmud
Gawan.

According to the Cambridge' History : They induced the keeper of his seals, an African,
to affix his private seal to a blank paper, on which they wrote, above the seal, a letter
to the Raja of Orissa, informing him that the people of the Deccan were weary of the tyran-
ny and perpetual drunkenness of their king and urging him to invade the country. The
paper was read to the king when he was drunk, and he at once sent for Mahmud Gawan,
who insisted on obeying the summons, notwithstanding the protests of his friends, who
warned him that mischief was brewing. The king made no inquiries and did not even
require the production of the messenger with whom the letter was said to have been found,
but when Mahmud appeared, roughly demanded what was the punishment due to a
traitor. * Death by the sword,’ replied the minister, confident in his innocence. The
king then showed him the letter and, having read it, he exclaimed, ‘By God, this is a mani-
fest forgery! The seal is mine, but the writing is none of mine, and I know nothing of
the matter.* The king, disregarding his protestations of innocence, rose to leave the hall

32

and, as he did so, ordered an African named Jauhar to put him to death. The minister
knelt down and recited the short symbol of his faith, and cried, as the sword fell, ‘ Praise
be to God for the blessing of martyrdom!* *’

When Muhammad III Lashkari, the King, learnt of the forgery, he gave way to
paroxysms of grief and remorse and tried to atone for his foul deed. The least he could do
was to give a splendid burial. The procession was escorted by Prince Mahmud, as he
himself was unable to accompany the funeral owing to the refusal of the nobles to march
with him.

Mahmud Gawan*s tomb is 2-| miles south of Bidar. No monument worthy of his
rank could be erected, and his remains rest under the shade of some neem trees. But
it is apt that the date of his execution is given by two chronograms ""the story of the tmjnst
execution^" and ‘ (he guiltless Mahmud Gawan suffered martyrdom.''

Muhammad Lashkari could hardly survive his sin and died in 1482, only a year after
Galvan’s martyrdom, at the early age of 28 years.

Apart from his historical achievements, Mahmud Gawan als6 left to posterity, works
in prose and poetry among which his Riazul Insha, letters, still exists.

A short distance from the Madrasa towards the fort is a gateway having at present a
hall. This building is now called the Takht-i-Kirmani, throne of Kirman, on account of
its containing a couch associated with the saint Khalilullah. Though a Bahmaui struc-
ture, its columns carry devices copied from temples. The string of Rudraksha-beads
carved on the border of the arch-head is another Hindu decorative motif while the back
wall of a landing in the recess of the main arch is decorated with effigies of two tigers- -
main feature of the gateways of forts in the Deccan and emblematic of Narasimha and
the Prophet’s son-in-law who is also known as the Lion of God because of his valour.

The couch is in the middle of the hall and is held in great reverence by the people
who flock to see it during Muharram.

Between the Madrasa and ’Takht-i-Kirmani is another building, where the fourth
Nizam, Nasiruddoulah Bahadur, was born and where his father, Sikander Jah, lived for
three years.

The so-called Cheeta Khana, or Leopai’d House, is a structure wiiich belies its name,
because, from its plan and construction it is evident that it was not built for keeping
leopards. It is not known how it came to be called Cheeta Kliana.

SUBURBS

Bidar’s suburbs are littered with tombs and monuments too numerous to mention.

Eight Bahmani tombs are grouped at Ashtur a mile and six furlongs east of the town.
Of these the tombs of Ahmad Shah Wall and others have been already mentioned.

The tomb of Alauddin Shah II, ,who died in 1436, must have been a magnificent
building when intact, for such features as have survived show a great improvement in its

33

decoration. Aland din was a cultured prince fond of literary pursuits, though weak in
administration. He built a large hospital at Bidar and endowed lands from whose income
medicines, food and drink wei'e provided for the sick. He also appointed v^aids and
hakims to treat patients. Occasionally he personally addressed the Friday congregation
in the Jami Masjid and was regarded as an orator.

A comparative study of the Bahmani tombs demonstrates in the clearest manner the
gradual deterioration of the political power of the dynasty.

BARIDI TOMBS

The group of Baridi tombs is about 10 furlongs west of Bidar city. Among them the most
notable is the tomb of Ali Barid, the third of the line and the first to assume royal titles.

The word Barid means a courier or messenger, and this office was probably held by
the forebears of Ali Barid.

Ali Barid was most powerful of the Baridi kings and also ruled the longest from 1542
to 1580. He was fond of architecture and he built his own tomb.

Replete with other architectural features, the- tomb of Ali Barid is said to be one of
the most proportionate building of its type. About the style of the building, however,
experts hold different opinions. Some consider it to be a great improvement upon the
heavy and sombre architecture of the Bahmani tombs, while others find fault with its
top heavy dome and narrow base. The tomb is, however, beautifully decorated and on
the walls inside many well-known verses from the Persian poet Attar are inscribed on
beautiful tiled-panels.

Numerous other shrines and tombs of saints and sinners are scattered round the walled
city but it is not possible to describe all of them. Among them, the protected monuments
are the Kali Masjid, the shrine of Hazrat Khalilullah and Amir Fakhrul-Mulk Gilani’s
tomb. The Kali Masjid is an elegant Mosque built in dark-grey granite and is quite
different in style from the local Bahmani and Baridi styles. From a Persian inscription
inside the Mosque, dated 1604 A.D., it is said to have been built by one Abdur Rahman
Rahim during the reign of Aurangzeb.

Hazrat Khalilullah was the spiritual preceptor of Ahmad Shah Wali. The real
tomb is surrounded by a lofty octagonal enclosure. The entrance of the tomb has a
beautiful inscription in Naskh carved in prophery.

Amir FakhruhMulk Gilani’s tomb is on a large stepped platform and belongs to one
of the ministers of the Bahmani kings and is seen for miles around.

THE BARBER AND THE DOG

The tombs of the barber and the dog are probably among the curios of Bidar^s sepulchral
abundance.

The barber’s tomb is in the vicinity of the' Idgah; It is a small structure but its ;

34

finiAU resemble those of the Tughlaq tombs of Delhi, while the dome is similar to those
built by the early Sultans of Delhi. Nothing is known about the person buried there,
and he may or may not have been a barber.

The tomb of the dog is on the Udgir road, and built in the Baridi style. Firishta in
the account of Ahmad Shah Wali describes the story of a dog which through its character-
istic instinct of devotion saved the life of a person, while its master suspecting the animal
to be disloyal, killed it. The master when he was apprised of the courage of the dog much
regretted his hasty judgement and built a dome over its grave outside the town of Bidar,
Firishta further writes that the tomb still exists, but except for the popular tradition men-
tioned there is no evidence whatever that the present structure is the tomb to which
Firishta refers to in his work.

RAN KHAMB

These are four pillars close to the old Udgir road as one goes from Ibrahim Barid’s tomb
to that of Qasim Barid II. The distance between the two pairs of pillars is 591 yards
and the space between the pillars themselves at each end is 1 1 feet nine inches. The
pillars are seven feet high.

Apparently they seem to be the goal posts in a polo ground, but some Muslim scho-
lars have expressed the view that these posts mark the eastern and western limits of the
sacred grounds in which the Baridi kings are buried. Literally 'Ran Khamb* itself is
‘pillar of combat.’

HABSHI KOT

Habshi Kot, literally " Abyssinian Fortress,” is a hillock east of the city. It is the legen-
dary home of buried treasures. According to one legend, a pious young man who used
to pray in the Kot suddenly became rich through the patronage of an Abyssinian giant.
According to another story, the people of Bidar see occasionally a gigantic Abyssinian
rolling and baking cakes of enormous size on the roof of a ruined tomb which, owing to the
absence of a dome and parapet, resembles a Indian chulla (oven) and tava (iron pan).

There is no doubt that the place at one time was occupied by Abyssinians in the
service of Bahmani and Baridi kings, and as there were several revolts in which Abyssin-
nians took an active part and were afterwards severely punished for their misconduct, it is
likely that strange stories were set afloat about their fabulous wealth or atrocious character.
Habshi Kot has several tombs, a mosque and a well or baoli. The tombs seem to have
been built during both the Bahmani and Baridi periods.

THE SEVEN SPRINGS

Bidar has seven natural springs from which water flows perennially. These are named

35

as follows : (z) the Aliabad spring, situated some two and half miles to the north-west- of
Bidar, (ii) the spring of Chamkora Mari situated at a distance of one and half miles from
Bidar (chamkora is a kind of shrub which is cultivated there), {Hi) spring of Sayyidus
Sadat, {iv) spring of Farh Bagh, (v) the spring of Shukla Tirath, a mile east of Bidar from
which pipe lines have been laid to serve the village of Agrar, {vi) the spring of Sheik Nur
Samnani, one mile from the town of Bidar, and {vii) the Papnasa spring.

Most of them are pretty and pleasant beauty-spots well worth a picnic.

From the Aliabad springs, water is fed through underground canals or karez to
Naubad a pleasant village on the Udgir road, some four miles west of Bidar. The karez
system was evidently designed by Persian engineers.

A similar karez was laid out for the Bidar town and fort, and a line of nine man-holes
from Fateh Darwaza to the moat of the fort can still be traced. Among the people of
Bidar it is known as Jamuna Mori.

Sayyidus Sadat is the title of saint Muhammad Hanif, believed to be a native of Gllan
who came to Deccan during the reign of Ahmad Shah Wali.

West of the shrine is the spring now named after him because of an inscriptional
tablet fixed into the wall above the mouth of the spring. The waters of the spring arj
believed to possess medicinal properties and people, especially credulous women desirous
of children, flock in large numbers to bathe in the cistern in front of the orifice in the rock-
wall whence the waters gush out. Actually the waters contain iron and sulphur, and are
wholesome for drinking.

FARH BAGH

Farh Bagh, or the Garden of Joy, is the site of an old Moghul garden laid out by the Moghul
Governor, Mukhtar Khan, in 1671. It is a mile and a half south-east of Bidar. Here
water oozes out from the bosom of a rock and the valley below is divided into natural
terraces.

A veritable beauty spot, traces of cistern and artificial cascades can still be seen.
Among these cascades are a dharamshala, a temple with several deities, including the
images of Ganesha and Nandi, some samadhis and a mosque. The mosque has Persian
inscriptions which are a masterpiece of the art of calligraphy. The garden with all its
buildings was made over by the Nizams to the keepers of the Hindu shrine and excepting
the mosque the place is still in the possession of the pujaris of the temple.

PAPNASA

This spring is regarded as sacred, and is a much frequented place of pilgrimage. It can
be reached from the 87th milestone on the Hyderabad-Udgir road, whence a cart
track leads to a pleasant grove in which mango and guava trees abound,

A temple built in recent times houses a number of images and deities which were

36

fomierly placed under various trees near the pool.

The pool is formed by water flowing out of a natural spring in the rock-bed, and
here people bathe to wash their sins away.

North of glen is a massive dike built to retain rain-water for irrigation. The tank
probably dates back to pre-Muslim times.

KAMTHANA TANK

The Kakatiya kings were renowned for building tanks for irrigation, and it is quite likely
that the Kamthana tank with its massive dike was built during their rule.

Kamthana is a village some six miles south-west of Bidar. Tlie earthwork embank-
ment, over a mile in length, had several sluices but it appears that they were not used
properly because the dike seems to have been breached occasinally by the pressure of water
in the Bahmani period. A Marathi inscription carved in the masonry even today warns
the people not to allow the water to overflow the embankment. The inscription also
records that the dam was breached and subsequently repaired by the order of Ibrahim
,Barid Shah in 1579.

Here again, Persian engineers later constructed an underground channel from tank
to a reservoir away towards the north. It is not unlikely that the reservoir was originally
situated in the middle of a garden.

PREHISTORIC SITES

There are a -number of neolithic sites containing artifacts in Bidar city, fort and suburbs.
In the suburbs the sites are near the Chamkora, the Papnas, the Aliabad and the Sadat
springs, and behind Bibi Bandagi’s tomb.

Modem Bidar which, straggles among the ruins of the old town is a lively little place
famous for the production of a beautiful kind of metal work known as “ Bidri ware,”
the making of which has been carried on since the days of old Bidar.

HOMNABAD

This place is sacred to the memory of another great personality of Bidar-Manik Prabhu.

Manik Prabhu flourished at Homnabad in the early years of the 19th century.
Throughout his life he preached the unity of all religions and came to be respected and
venerated by all communities. Manik Prabhu’s compositions reveal mystical lines.
His disciples carry on his traditions at Homnabad even today and the Manik Prabhu
Mutt in that place is a great centre of attraction for Hindus and Muslims throughout the
year,

KALYANI

Kalyani, situated oh the did road from Tuljapur to Hyderabad, is still a town of some

37

size. Originally, it was the capital of the Western-later-Chalukyas, and is mentioned in
na im^Tiption of the Chalukya emperor, Pulekesin, foun dat Bharangi in Mysore State. In
the micidlc of the 10th century A.D. Malkhed was the capital of the Rashtrakutas who
intervened between the early and the later Chalukyas and ruled over the Deccan for over
two centuries. But Tailapa (973*997), the reviver of the Chalukyan rule, made Kalyani
his capital. In the 1 1th century, during the reign of Somesvara I, Kalyani was “ beauti-
ful so that it surpassed in splendour all other cities of the earth.*’

Apai’t from its place in history, Kalyani enjoys the unique reputation of being the
birth place of Mitakshara Law.

AUTHOR OF MITAKSHARA

Vijnaneshwar, one of the greatest Hindu jurists, flourished in the Chalukyan court
and gave to the world what is known today as the Mitakshara Law. Mitakshara
includes personal law which is followed by the vast majority of Hindus, the main excep-
tion being the province of Bengal, which follows the Dayabhaga Law.

The Chalukyas were a Scythian race, and derived their origin from one of the four
classes of Buddhist followers called Chailaka. The Chalukyas claimed their descent from
Manu through Hariti, and were known as Agnikulas, from their devotion to the worship
of fire. They were included in the thirty-six races of the Kshaltriyas and belonged to
the Lunar family. According to tradition, they had fifty-nine predecessors on the throne
of Ayodhya before they arrived in southern India. Their signet of Varaha or Boar, which
was used by the Valabhis as well, was adopted after their conversion to Brahmanism;
and their insignia also included a peacock-fan, an elephant-goad, a golden sceptre, and
other symbols. On entering the Deccan, they overcame the Kalachuryas, the Rathas
and the Kadambas. They ruled over Kuntala Desa and Karnata Desa, and their capital
was Kalyani. The former included Maharashtra, and the latter comprised much of the
Chola and Ballala kingdoms. The power of the Chalukyas was at its highest in the sixth
century, from the reign of Pulekesin to the reign of Vikramaditya. Pulekesin is said to have
conquered Chera, Chola, and Pandya, and to have performed the Aswamedha or horse
sacrifice, by which he proclaimed his suzeranity from the Ganges (Godavari?) to Ceylon.
Perhaps this refers to Satyasraja the second Pulekesin, who is known to have defeated
Harsha Vardhana, the king of Kanoj, and the most powerful monarch in northern India.

Kuntala Desa stretched from the Narbada on the north to somewhere about the Tunga-
bhadra on the south, having the Arabian Sea for its border on the west, while it reached
to the river Godavari and the Eastern Ghats on the N.E. and S.E.”

In the middle of the 12th century the Chalukyans were ousted by the Kalachuris
and with the fall of the latter, Kalyani ceased to be a capital.

A GREAT REFORMER

Basava, the greatest social and religious reformer of medieval Deccan, was Bijjala’s
Prime ^Minister, and he preached a religion which protested against the narrow restric

38

tions of‘ caste, and tlie snoberiy of the upper classes. He insisted on the worship of
one God, Siva, and man’s complete surrender to the deity. His was truly a protes-
tant religion aiming at unity of all classes in a monotheistic creed.

Basava’s creed attracted thousands of followers who are known as the Lingayats and
Veerashaivas. During his ovvn life time Basava had to fight against the prejudices and
passions of his countiymen and had to leave Kalyani following what was really a revolu-
tion which ended the Kalachuri interlude.

The Lingayats, who are most numerous in the Karnatak country, are in reality the
spearheads of the reformist movement among the Hindus and are today a great force in
the life of the Karnatak country. Kannada literature has been greatly enriched by the
devotional and philosophical contributions of Lingayat saints and scholars. Their
contribution known as the Vachana literature occupies a conspicuous place in the Kannada
language.

According to the two inscriptions of Muhammad Tughlaq in the fort of Kalyani the
place was included in the territory annexed to the Sultanate of Dslhi, coiiiequeit o.i the
fall of Deogiri of the Yadavas, and was later transferred to the Bahmani Dominions.

The Bahmanis rebuilt the old Hindu fort at Kalyani to suit their warfare based on
gunpowder. On the splitting up of that dynasty Kalyani became part of the Baridi
territory, which had Bidar for its capital, but it was soon taken over by the Adil Shahis of
Bijapur who, according to the inscriptions carved on the walls of the fort, made important
additions to its defences.

After the conquest of Bijapur Aurangzeb’s army plundered Kalyani and it was in-
cluded as a district of the Suba of Bidar in the Moghul Empire.

UDGIR

Udgir is a walled town with a strong citadel and is memorable on account of a great
battle fought between the Marathas and the first Nizam, the founder of the present
dynasty. In 1760 the Maratha army numbering nearly 60,000 attacked the Nizam and
in spite of the brave attempts of the latter defeated him. A treaty was concluded after
this battle according to which the Nizam had to part with the greater part of his
territory.

According to the auther of HadiqaiuL ^Alam, this treaty concluded ‘‘ a peace preg-
nant with a thousand mischief. ”

Udgir Fort and Bagh-i-Husn are of Bahmani origin. They were rebuilt during
the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb and have Persian inscriptions to that effect.
The inscriptions range from 1576 to 1805 A.D.

During the wars between the Imperialists and Bijapuris Udgir, which was then
one of the strongest forts in the Bijapur Kingdom, was frequently besieged. The last
mention of it occurs in 1635, w^hen it surrendered to Shah Jahan’s commander-in-chief
after a siege of some duration.

GULBARGA

c

ACRED to the memory of great saints and religious leaders who are universally vene-
rated by Hindus and Muslims alike, Gulbarga is perhaps the “ holiest ” of Hydera-
bad’s districts. While other districts may be famed for archaeology, architecture, art,
industry or history, Gulbarga has inherited an unrivalled tradition of spiritual glory.

Here lies buried Jayatirtha, the celebrated commentator on Sri Madhava’s
teachings.

And the eternal footprints which great saints like Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz,
Shri Sharana Basaweshwara have left on the sands of time continue to illumine the path of
salvation for hundreds of thousands of devoted pilgrims to this day.

As one looks back upon the tapestry of time, Gulbarga district stands out of the
mists of history as a province of consequence from very ancient times. Although there
are veiled references to this region in the Ramyana, it does not appear in history until
750 A.D. when the warlike Rashtrakutas established themselves in the Deccan over the
ashes of the Chalukyan empire. The Rashtrakutas were the chieftains of Lattalur, the
Latur of today, and they ruled the Deccan from Manyakheta, which survives today at
Malkhed, Gulbarga district.

According to contemporary literature Manyakheta was a fair and prosperous city
and the Rashtrakuta empire in its golden days extended all over the Deccan including
central India, southern Gujerat and part of modern Mysore. Krishna, Govinda and
Amoughravarsha, the most celebrated of Rashtrakuta emperors, were patrons of art and
learning as soldiers and in their court flourished the earliest Kannada writers, most of
whom were Jains. The famous Kailasa at EUora is an everlasting memorial to Rashtra-
kuta greatness.

Salman Tajir, the famous Arab navigator and trader, who visited the court of Amou-
ghravarsha, described him as one of the four great monarchs of the world, the other three
being the Caliph of Baghdad, the Emperor of Constantinople and the Emperor of China.

40

About 1000 A,D. Manyakheta was destroyed by the Parmars of Malwa and the power of
the Rashtrakutas declined.

They were supplanted by the later Chalukyas, who set themselves up as rulers of the
Deccan at Kaiyani, another city which still exists in Bidar district. Vikramaditya Ghalu-
kya, was the most celebrated of his line, and it was in his court that the Mitakshara La^v
can be said to have originated.

In 1310 A.D. Gulbarga came under the Khiljis and records are available which
describe how the Delhi Government appointed Muslim officers at Kalyani, Sagar and
other places in the district. By 1348 A.D., however, Gulbarga again managed to free
itself, when Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahmani declared himself independent and made
Gulbarga his capital.

JAYATIRTHA AND HIS DUALISM

The Bahmani period (1347-1525 A.D.) is renowned for two great personalities and
a book : Jayatirtha and Hazrat Khwaja Banda Nawaz, w^ho were contemporaries, and
Gurucharitra. It is well known that the reorientation of Indian philosophy in post-
Buddhist India was accomplished by five great philosophers of south India — Sankara-
charya and his disciples, Vallabhachary and Nimbarka, and Ramanujam and Sri Madhava,
who founded the Adwaita, Visishtadwaita, and Dwaita schools of thought respectively.
As is also well known, Madhava’s philosophy based on Dwaita or dualism was subjected to
taunts and criticisms by the Adwaita pandits, who asserted that it was unintelligible. It
was Jayathirtha who removed this stigma by means of his Nyaya and Sudha, two great and
masterful treatises interpreting the Dualism of Vedanta philosophy.

Jayatirtha was born in the early years of the 14th century in Gulbarga district and
succeeded Madhava’s disciple Akshobhayatirtha. He dedicated his life to spreading
the gospel of his Master, and spent years in the taluqs of Yadgir and Malkhed. His
works and teachings had a wide influence which extended far beyond Deccan, The
religious reformers of Bengal belonging to the Chaitanya school were particularly in-
fluenced by Jayatirtha’s Nyaya and Sudha, Jayatirtha died at the close of the 14th
century and lies buried at Malkhed,

PATRON SAINT OF THE SOUTH

Hazrat Syed Muhammad Gesudaraz, popularly known as Khwaja Banda Nawaz,
was one of the greatest Muslim saints in the Deccan. Born in 721 A.H. he came to Gul-
barga during the reign of Feroz Shah Bahmani. He was the spiritual heir of Khwaja
Naseeruddin Chirag-i-Delhi, and belonged to the Chishti school of Sufism. He is held
in universal veneration by people of all castes and creeds, who regard him as the patron
saint of the south. His spiritual influence has guided thousands of people to salvation.

Khwaja Banda Nawaz was also a prolific writer and nearly 80 books in Persian and

41

Urdu are attributed to him. His sermons dating from 1396 A.D. are some of the earliest
contributions to Urdu literature. He died in 825 A.H. at the age of 104 and his tomb in
Gulbarga still radiates spiritual glory.

Testifying to the fusion of culture is Srngaramanjari^ a book on Rhetoric in Sanskrit
which was written by St Akbar Shah, a grandson of Hazrat Khwaja.

Gurucharitra came to be written some time in the 15th- 16th century after the Dattat-
raya cult had gained ascendancy in the district and in the Deccan. Irrespective of histori-
city, Dattatraya came to be worshipped as a great yogi and philosopher, and consciously
or unconsciously attempts were made to liken him to the sufis of Islam. Thus Dattatraya
was looked upon as a great fakir and impressions were made only of his footprints instead
of his image. The town of Gangapur in the district was the greatest centre of Dattatraya
cult, and it still attracts thousands of devotees every year. The gurus mentioned in
Gurucharitra were supposed to be the incarnations of Dattatraya, and many a miracle is
attributed to them.

SPIRITUAL REVIVAL IN 19TH CENTURY

With the downfall of Bijapur at the hands of the Moghuls in 1685, Gulbarga became
a part of the Moghul empire, which soon engulfed the kingdom of Golconda also. By
1724 the district became a part of the Nizam’s dominions and figured prominently
in the struggles between the Nizams and the Marathas.

In the 19th century there was another revival of the spiritual tradition of Gulbarga
when Shri Sharana Basaweshwara and Manik Prabhu began their campaign of religious
teachings and uplift of humanity.

Sharana Basaweshwara was a Lingayat saint of a high order who was born in Andola
taluq of Gulbarga. His samadhi at Gulbarga is one of very great importance and attracts
thousands of devotees every year.

BEDARS OF KRISHNA VALLEY

The Krishna Valley in the district is peopled by the homogeneous and ancient tribe
of Bedars who still retain strong tribal consciousness. Shorapur is their stronghold and
their chieftains still survive at Shorapur, Devdurg, Hulihaider and other places. They
have been prominent at various times in history such as during the Bahmani-Vijaya-
nagar struggle in the 15th and 16ih century and the invasion of the Deccan by Aurang-
zeb. One of Aurangzeb’s generals, Diler Khan, was worsted in his fight against the
Bedars and Aurangzeb cried out in admiration “ Praise to the Bedars and curses to the
Dilers/’

GULBARGA CITY

Originally Kalburgi, Gulbarga was a town of parochial importance until the Bah-

42

manis made it their capital. It has a strong fort which used to have a small Arab-Sikh
garrison. The fort has a great mosque which is said to have been built in 1347. It is
the largest covered mosque in India, having no courtyard. Modelled after the mosque of
Cordova in Spain, its interior has the appearance of a grand old cathedral with long
aisles. It has a large dome surrounded by smaller ones which present a curious spec-
tacle. The area of the mosque is 38,016 square feet.

Next in importance is the Dargah of Khwaja Banda Nawaz, which has a dome about
80 feet high. Within the dargah premises are a Kaqqar Khana, a caravanserai for pilgrims,
a madrasa and an exclusively carved stone mosque which was built by Aurangzeb. The
tombs of the Bahmani kings, the dargah of saint Ruknuddin and the tomb of Shah Siraj-
uddin are also of interest. Shah Sirajuddin is said to have spiritually influenced Khwaja
Banda Nawaz and is believed to have attained the age of 1 1 1 years.

SHARANA BASAWESHWARA

The Sharana Basaweshwara temple is a good example of 19th century architecture.
The kala$ on the sikhara of the temple was installed in 1949 after a period of 90
years. About a century and quarter ago, at Aralgundagi, a village in the Jewargi taluq
of Gulbarga district, in a pious Lingayat family of the Salokya lineage, Shri Sharana
Basaweshwara took birth. He did not descend to the world with the dazzling fame of a
divine avatar. He came from the simple folk of our own villages, unassuming, unsophisti-
cated, unostentatious, and unsullied by the grime of urban civilization.

After receiving whatever education he could at the village pathshala^ Sharana Basa-
weshwara married; but already he was drinking deep of the nectar of spiritualism and,
though outwardly adhering to the routine of married life, he inwardly developed intuitive
knowledge and mystic experience. He would shower on all those who approached him
for alms and assistance all the material possessions of his family, without pausing for ,a
moment and without even thinking of the reqmrements of his own near and dear ones.

This led to a schism in the family and his brothers demanded a division of the pro-
perty- So the joint family broke up. ' Shri Sharana Basaweshwara gave a free hand to
his brothers to take whatever they liked of the ancestral property, being contented with
whatever was left to him. He then led the life of a farmer for some time.

What a strange farmer he was I No fencing was needed for his fields. The village
cattle were welcome guests to graze there. Far from driving away the cattle and birds
that came to feed on his crops, he placed in his fields large vessels of water for them to
drink &om. These vessels survive even to this day as eloquent evidence of this saint’s
overflowing love for all living things. Thus Shri Sharana Basaweshwara practised in
his life what was preached in the Vedas and the Upanishads,

Once it so happened that Shri Sharana Basaweshwara was returning home early in
the morning after collecting sacred leaves and flowers for Kis pujd^ wheii. soine . thieves

43

waylaid him. He disclosed to them that he had no money with him at the moment,
but he would bring money for them from his house if only they allowed him to do so.
The thieves allowed him to go home, never believing, of course, that he would come back.
But, to their surprise, he came back with the money and humbly apologized for * the
delay. Remorse seized the thieves and they fell prostrate before him and took an oath
that they would lead an honest and pious life in the future.

Such instances are innumerable even in the early life of this godly man.

Having at last decided to lead a life of renunciation, sadhana and service, after the
death of his wife and children when he was 35 years of age, he left his village on a pilgrim-
age to Kalyan, with which place the imperishable glory of Basaweshwara is associated.
But on his way he found that the land was in the grip of a great famine ; and realizing that
serving humanity in distress was more important than pilgrimage, he gave up his idea of
going to Kalyan and organized famine relief on an extensive scale to tens of thousands of
starving people at Farhatabad, near Gulbarga.

For months together, this feeding of the hungry continued, and his fame spread far
and wide. The people came to him and requested that he should make Gulbarga his
permanent abode. To their great joy, he agreed to do so.

From now on Shri Sharana Basaweshwara’s was a life dedicated to the ministration
of the suffering millions. Every minute of his remaining life was spent in healing the
moral, material and spiritual wounds of the toiling and moiling masses ; in feeding the
poor ; in wiping the orphan’s tears ; in soothing and guiding the sinner ; in serving
the sick and curing the diseased by his extraordinary powers.

Shri Sharana Basaweshwara demonstrated to the world, both by example and by
precept, the eternal values and verities of life, its essential goodness and basic oneness ;
and exhorted all round him to drink deep at the fountain of God’s abounding grace and
to live in peace and amity, mutual co-operation and unity. He transcended all the
artificial barriers of caste and creed that divided humanity into small fragments and
discordant groups,- and rallied under his banner of Bhakti devotees from all castes and
creeds including Muslims. Many a miracle is attributed to him : he is said to have
brought back the dead to life, to have restored sight to the blind, and cured incurable
diseases with his prasad.

Even to this day people from far and wide flock to his samadhi for the fulfilment
of their hearts’ desires. He was a beacon light to all in his time, and even today his
message is the kindly light that leads millions of his devotees amid the encircling gloom
of earthly life. Although his physical existence came to a close years ago, his ethereal
and spiritual existence is eternal and his message immortal Shri Sharana Basaweshwara
is popularly known as Sharana Basappa and for 15 days in March every year a great

44

fair is held at Gulbarga to commemorate the death anniversary of this Lingayat .%aint.

MONUMENTS

The full list of other main places of interest in Gulbarga city and suburbs is : Tomb
of Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahmani. Tomb of Mahmud Shah I. Large Bijapur Arch
and Afzal Khan’s Mosque inside the Dargah premises. Ghand Bibi’s Tomb. Siddi
Ambar’s Tomb. Ismail Molchs’ Mosque and grave. Shah Bazar Mosque and
Hammam. Chor Gumbad. Old Idgah. Dargah of Hazrat Shaikh Sirajuddin Junaidi.
Langar-ki-]Masjid. Dargah, Mosque and Serai of H. Kamal Mujarrad. Qalandar
Khan’s Mosque and Tomb. (Qalander Khan was the Governor of Gulbarga after the
capital was transferred to Bidar in 1422 A.D.) Hirapur mosque and well attributed
to Chand Bibi. Ferozabad Remains. Bahmani Tombs at Holconda.

Ghand Bibi’s tomb built in characteristic Bijapur style is said to have been built by
Ghand Bibi but she was never buried in it and the tomb is really empty. The Ghor Gum-
bad is one of the seven gumbads^ domes, of Gulbarga. It is lofty and colossal having under-
ground labyrinths which were used by robbers and thugs at one time. Gol. Meadows
Taylor also lived here for a time and he has mentioned it in his books. Langar-ki-Masjid
is peculiar in its construction, having an elephant-back roof resembling that of a Buddhist
chaitya and its sloping caves are supported by elephant-trunk brackets.

Holconda, at the 18th milestone on the Honmabad road, has five beautiful tombs
resembling the seven domes of Gulbarga, but is not known who are buried there.

Ferozabad town and fortress were built by Feroz Shah Bahmani (1397-1422 A.D.)
on lines similar to Akbar’s Fatehpur Sikri. Feroz was asked by the Saint Banda Nawaz to
quit Gulbarga and remove his capital to some other site. Feroz Shah selected the banks
of the Bhima for the site of the town and the fortress. Inside the fort walls are remains of
large palaces, a Jami Masjid, Turkish baths, kitchens and various other buildings which
remained incomplete.

Here Feroz housed his harem of 800 women of various nations and led a gay life. The
new town was his Gapua but never superseded Gulbarga as the administrative capital.

At Gogi, inside the premises of the Dargah of H. Chanda Shah Husaini are the graves
of four Adil Shahi kings, Yusuf, Ismail, Ibrahim and Mallu, in a roofed gallery and
there is also the tomb of Fatima Sultana, sister of Ali Adil Shah, close to which there is
an ordinary mosque in late Bijapur style. The Dargah of the saint for whom these potent-
ates had a profound spiritual attachment is a plain grave surrounded by a square enclosed
compound of exquisite trellis screens executed in plaster.

At the southern side of the Dargah is an elegant mosque- built in chaste Bijapur style.
The mosque is known as the Kali Masjid on account of the dark grey stone used in its
construction. This edifice was erected by Fatima Sultana,

" ' In the town is a'ddtible-sioi-eyad 4-partitioned mosque known as ' A^bal^’'

45

in which is a Persian Inscription of Muhammad Tughlaq.

ALAND

Here is the Dargah of H. Shaikh Alauddin Ansari (locally known as Ladlay Sahib) who
was the spiritual leader of H. Khwaja Banda Nawaz of Gulbarga,

MALKHED

Here lies buried the great philosopher-saint Jayatirtha, Once the mighty capital
of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, it has now dwindled down to a small village with a scanty
population. The town nestles on the right bank of the Kagna, a tributary of the Bhima
and lies at a distance of about three miles from Malkhed Road railway station.

The town served as the capital of the Rashtrakutas from the 8th to 10th century A.D.
Some altered temples and sculptures, an old fort and fragments of carvings, images, and
inscriptions, which lie scattered about in the various localities of the village and the sur-
rounding fields, go to show its magnitude and extent. Malkhed lost its lustre consequent
on its sack at the hands of the Paramara ruler, Siyaka, in 962 A.D. and no further
account of the town is heard until it was included in the Bahmani domains in the 14th
century, and later annexed by Aurangzeb to the Moghul Empire of Delhi towards the
end of the 17 th century.

In the time of the Rashtrakuta King Amoughravarsha I, however, Malkhed seems
to have been a great centre of Jaina religion, literature and culture. Jinasena, the great
guru of Amoughravarsha and author of several works noticed below, Mahendra, a Jaina
mathematician, Gunabhadra, Puspadanta and Ponna (Kannada writer) seem to have
made Malkhed their home.

Jainism must have been an active force in the lives of kings and commoners alike at
this time. We find Amoughravarsha renouncing the kingdom to become an ascetic in his
old age and later Indraraja IV also renounced the kingdom and ended his days ‘‘ accord-
ing to the Jaina form of renunciation.” Numerous records at Sravana Belagola and
other places in the south record the munificence of various Rashtrakuta kings ; and contri-
bute to the fame of Malkhed and its rulers.

A number of Jaina and other works are stated to have been composed in this place
(1) Adipuram and (2) Parsvabhyudaya Kavya both by Jinasena are the famous productions
of the time of Amoughravarsha. Amoughavritti^ a great commentary on the Sanskrit
grammar of Sakatayana is named after this Rashtrakuta king and was probably the result
of his patronage. Ganita-sara^ a work on mathematics by Mahavira is another work that
we owe to his encouragement of learning. There is considerable basis for believing that
the Kannada work on Poetics, Kavirajamarga^ was firom the pen of Amoughravarsha
himself ; nor is there any doubt about the merit of his beautiful kavya RatYiomalikd which
according to his own statement he composed when he had abdicated the throne on
account of the growth of ascetic spirit in him.”

The famous Umm Purma, the seqirel to Ai^pwtma^ was composed in the reigh of

46

Krishna II by Gunabhadra. Puspadanta was evidently the most famous author of this
reign although only three of his works have survived to his day, namely (1) Mahapurana or
Tisatihi-purisa'-gunalamkara^ (2) Jasahacariu^ an Apabhramsa work in four chapters, and (3)
Maya-Kumaracariu, another apabhramsa work in nine chapters. Two other works are also
famous as having been composed during the reign of Krishna II namely Jvala-malini-
kalpa of Indranandi in 939 A.D. and Yasastilaka-compu of Somadeva in A.D. 959. The
Kannada poet Ponna was highly honoured and was conferred the title Ubhayabhasa-
chakravarti by the king.

Malkhed in Rashtrakuta times “ scraped the sky by its mountain-like high palaces ’’
and is called, “ the champion of the celestial city, crowded with people and with flower
gardens.”

The modern villages of Malkhed, Seram and Nagai— within a mile or so of each

(^ther appear to have been the localities and suburbs of one and the same great City of

Malkhed. The abundance of ancient mounds, inscriptions, carvings and other materials
of old Hindu temple-architecture which are littered over in these villages when exposed
and pieced together account for the glorious capital of the Rashtrakutas, who
played such an important part in the political and cultural evolution of the Deccan and
the south.

Nagai is sacred to Digamber Jains; while Gangapur is the town of the Dattatraya

cult.

Nagai is of antiquarian interest because of the mantap of 16 carved pillars forming
the entrance to the hall of a shrine w^hich still retains the Chalukyan star-shaped base.
It has two big inscribed slabs of black stone. Nearby is a Digamber Jain temple with
two Jina images, the one in Adytum being a standing figure with a five-headed snake as
canopy and worshippers at the feet. There is also a Hanuman temple with a beautiful
carrot-shaped dipdan. There are also Kali Masjid and a Muslim shrine in the
locality.

At Seram the Panch Linga Temple with its five shrines and the monolithic dipdan
are most prominent. These remains belong to the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. There
are also some Jaina temples, sculptures and inscriptions of the 11th to 13th centuries in
the town.

SAGAR

Fortifications, gateways, dargahs and the Janai Masjid indicate that Sagar was of
considerable political and religious importance during the Bahmani and Adil Shahi rule,
as is evidenced by the number, extent and grandeur of the monuments. Persian inscrip-
tions range from 1713 A.D.

... SHAHPUR

I^ere.are .tombs of Adil Shahi Hngs aad a ruined fort supposed . to. be buUt by the

47

rajas of Warangal, but Persian inscriptions show that the modern fort was built by the
Bahmani and Adil Shahi kings.

On the top of the hill is an old temple, a ruined mosque and two dargahs. There are
also prehistoric avenues and menhirs here.

SHORAPUR

The Shorapur fort is said to have been originally built by the Bender Rajas-Naikas-
but there is nothing left of the original fort. On a gateway of the present fortifications
of the town is a Persian inscription giving the name of Aurangzeb and the date 1117 A.H.

In the towxi are the palac^es of the present Raja of Shorapur, which have excellent
collections of old historic documents, paintings and other valuables.

On an eminence to the north of the town is the Taylor Manzil and a Mahal attached
to it left by Col. Meadows 1 aylor, who has bequeathed momentoes of his life in the Deccan
together with his biography My Life and several other novels in which events of his
own life and contemporary incidents have been collected that give a good picture of 19th
century Deccan.

He has also a good collection of historical novels to his credit, which commemmorate
events of the reigns of Bijapur kings. Taylor Manzil has been maintained as a local
museum and guest house by the Archaeological Department.

Shorapur taluq has some beautiful rapids which are close to the temple of Chaya
Bhagwati on the banks of the Krishna. Hundreds of tourists visit these waterfalls every
year.

YADGIR

The fort at Yadgir was built by Feroz Shah Bahmani, but it is probable that this was
also the site of a fort built by the Yadavas, or the rajas of Warangal. In Yadgir taluq
again, there are many places of prehistoric interest.

HYDERABAD

o NE of the few twin cities of the world, the capital of Hyderabad State is the
Budapest of India. A sheet of water, as nobl^ as the blue Danube, separates the twin
cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which like Budapest have similar old and new
streets and suburbs.

Mosques and minarets, bazars and bridges, and hills and lakes, remind one of
Constantinople, while to stand on the Hussainsagar bund, at sunset, is to catch a
fleeting illusion of the Bay of Naples or the Ionian scenery.

Perched on the top of the Deccan plateau nearly 2,000 feet above the sea, romantic
as the Alhambra, the twin cities sprawl over 96 square miles of hills and hillocks, plains
and valleys, lakes and rivulets* Contrasting scenes meet at every turn of the road.
Oriental bazars hobnob with streets of western inspiration, and typical Indian villages
suddenly appear in all their rustic greenery after a spell of palaces and boulevards* The
architecture is as varied as the history of the city has been colourful. Ancient Indian,
Saracenic, Moghul, colonial English and French, modern German and American and
modern Indian styles of architecture create an atmosphere of exuberance and richness,
wealth and variety of the conflict of civilizations and the tremendous pace of history.

Unlike Delhi and Mathura, Paris or Rome, Hyderabad is but an infant. It had
no history until King Ganapati, the famous Kakatiya king, built a kutcha fort on the
grim rocky prominence now known as Golconda. It was then called Mankal according
to Maathire Alamgiri* The Kakatiyas became independent of the Chalukyas and the
dynasty was founded by King Rudradeva. The Thousand Pillar Temple at Hauam-
konda owes its origin to him. King Ganapati was succeeded by his daughter
Rudrama, during whose rule Marco Polo visited the Kakatiya kih^om and was im-
pressed by her administration. After Pratap Rudra II (1296-1325), the Kakatiya dynasty

50

gave way to Muslim power in the south. Still there was no Hyderabad.

In the reign of Muhammad Shah III (MSS), the thirteenth king of the great Bahmani
dynasty which reigned in the Deccan for nearly two hundred years, troubles arose in
Telingana, and a Baharlu Turk of Hamadan, Sultan Quli by name, who had been a slave
in the imperial household, was appointed to pacify the country and to clear the land of the
robbers who had overrun it. The Kakatiya fort of Golconda was ceded to this young
Turk. The young Turk’s performance of the task entrusted to him surpassed the expec-
tations of all. The condition of the Bahmani kingdom at this time was such that an
appeal to arms would probably have hastened its downfall, and the young man was con-
sequently compelled to rely on his diplomatic tact and personal' charm of manner. Not-
withstanding the disadvantages under which he laboured, he soon succeeded in restoring
order, thus securing the confidence placed in him by the ladies of the harem, and win-
ning useful friends among non-Muslims and those amirs of the empire who had lands in
Telingana.

Under Mahmud Shah IV (1482), Stiltan Qjali became an amir of the empire, with the
title of Qutb-ul-Mulk, receiving as his jagir Golconda with the surrounding country »
Shortly after receiving this grant he was appointed commander-in-chief in Telingana, a
position which strengthened his hands considerably. In 1512 Qutb-ul-Mulk, who had
for some time been practically independent, followed the example which had been set by
Yusuf Adil Khan, Ahmad Nizam-ul-Mulk, and Fath-ullah Imad-ul-Mulk, the governors
of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Berar, and, throwing off his allegiance to the now feeble
house of Bahman, proclaimed himself independent sovereign of the territory which he had
hitherto ruled in the king’s name. Assuming the style of Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, he
made Golconda his capital.

Sultan Quli had already replaced the old Kakatiya mud fort with a strong fortress
of stone which the surrounding country yielded in large quantities. His fort received
many and substantial additions at the hands of his descendants and successors. The
Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda did not, like their neighbours, the Adil Shahi kings of
Bijapur, run mad on architecture, but they built and built well, in spile of a depraved
preference for stucco for buildings other than fortifications.

Thus came into being Golconda, but Hyderabad had to wait till 1591. In that year
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda,
grew weary of his fortress capital, which was then so overcrowded with habitations as to
be both unhealthy and unpleasant as a place of residence. While hunting one day on
the south*bank of the river Musi, he was attracted by the fresh and green appearance of
the site on which the city of Hyderabad now stands, about six miles from the fortress of
Golconda, and selected it as the site of his new capital.

He caUed the new city Bhagnagar after the lady of hjs love, Bhagmati, to meet whom
he used to cross the Musi on horseback while yet heir-apparent. When the city grew

51

it was renamed Hyderabad. The first work taken in hand was the laying out of four
bazars, at the entrance of each of which a great arch was erected on the principal road,
the space within the arches being designated the Chat Kaman or four arches,** which
name it still retains.

To the south of this space was erected the Char Minar which is to this day the most
conspicuous landmark in the city of Hyderabad, and even figured on the obverse of
the Hyderabad rupee. , ""

One of the earliest buildings to be taken in hand, by a devout Muslim sovereign
founding a new city, was the Jami Masjid^ or principal mosque, where all the inhabi-
tants may meet for the general Friday prayers. This was founded in A.H, 1006 (A.D.
1597-98) according to a Persian inscription over the gateway.

The next work to be undertaken was building a permanent bridge over the Musi to
connect the new city on its south bank with the old fortress capital of Golconda. This
bridge still exists and is known as the old bridge. It is the westernmost of the four bridges
which now span the river between Hyderabad and its northern suburbs, and is carried
on twenty-three pointed arches. Over it runs the old highroad from the north-western
gate of the city, through Karwan, to the principal gate of Golconda. The building of
the bridge was followed by the building of a hospital and public baths, and the king’s
architects then set to work to design the royal palace, which was built on some open
ground to the east of the Char Minar, probably the site now accupied by the Nizam’s
palace known as the Purani though the present palace, despite its name, is not

that built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. An ornamental cistern called the GuIzclt
Hauz^ or ‘‘ cistern of the rose garden,” was constructed at the same time. This cistern
still exists in the centre of the Char Kamarty but there is little in its surroundings that re-
calls a rose garden. The Dad Mahal, or hall of justice, a building which was unfortu-
nately destroyed by fire when Ibrahim Khan was subahdar of the Deccan, was also built
at the same time. Another building of the same date, which cannot now be traced,
was the Madi Mahal, or river palace.

According to Firishta, the city of Hyderabad lies among the trees on the south bank
of the river Musi, a city “ the like of which for beauty and cleanliness, is not to be found
in the whole of Hindustan east, west, south, or north. Its compass is near five leagues,
and its bazars, unlike those of other cities of India, are laid out on a fixed plan and are
spacious and clean, and through them run water channels beside which grow shady
trees.”

This is somewhat highly coloured, but the situation of the city is undeniably beautifuls
Of its aspect, from the hill on which the Falaknuma Palace now stands, the Kuh4-^Tiir or
‘ Mount Sinai ’ of Qutb Shahi days. Colonel Meadows Taylor writes : “ from one
favourite point of view of mine, the city lies stretched before you, the graceful Char IV^iiar
or gate of the four minarets, in its centre; the gigantic Mecca mosque standing out nobly;
while the large tank lies at your feet, and the bold rock of the fort of Golconda rises in ;;
distance. From hence, a rising, sun gradually lighting up every object in the clear

52

ing air^ and the growing, glittering landscape terminating in the tender blue of the
distance, (the scene) is inexpressibly beautiful.’’

At least it must have seemed so to Shah Abbas, son of Tahmasp Safavi, and his ambas-
sador who came to the court of Golconda via Goa with many valuable Iranian presents, in
1 603. He remained in ** the dilkusha garden of Hyderabad ” till 1 609. There were other
ambassadors too. Husain Baig Qubchachi, another Persian ambassador, came in 1614
and returned in 1616. In 1617 Mir Makki and Munshi Jadoo Rao represented jehangir
at the court of Golconda. But these friendly relations only increased Delhi’s appetite
for the territories and riches of Golconda, and Aurangzeb, as viceroy of the 'Deccan,
nearly conquered Hyderabad at the instigation of Mir Jumla, the double dealing Qjatb
Shahi Prime Minister. Mir Jumla will also be remembered for his conquest of Assam
as a Moghul Commander-in-Chief. This first encounter with Delhi ended in a truce
while Aurangzed hastened back to contest the imperial throne following Shah Jahan’s
illness. Abdulla Qutb Shah, however, had no illusions, and when Aurangzeb captured
the throne of Delhi, King Abdulla placed upon his seal and coinage the pathetic legend:
it has come to a good and auspicious conclusion. This motto is usually referred to as a prescience
of the fall of the Golconda.

Meanwhile, Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, familiarly known as the Good King Tana
Shah, came to the throne. He began as a pious darvishy but soon became the merry
monarch of the Deccan, not unlike Muhammad Shah revelling in drinking, feasting and
orgies. The administration, however, was ably carried on by two Brahmins, Madanna
and Venkanna (Akanna), who governed the country in accordance with Hindu principles.
Aurangzeb seized upon this as a pretext, and invaded Qutb Shahi territories in 1684 but
actually the seige of Golconda began in 1687 and lasted eight months. Repeated treachery,
despite the bravery of Abdur Razaq Lari, gave the fort to Aurangzeb and the king-
dom of Golconda became just another Moghul district. It remained so until Mir Qam-
ruddin Chin Qilich Khan made himself independent of the Moghul court. Emperor
Farrukh Sayyar had made him viceroy of the Deccan with the title of Nizam-uLMulk
Feroz Jung in 1713 but the Moghul kingdom was in decadence and the tussle for the
throne continued until Muhammed Shah became king. In all this and in meeting the
invasion of Nadir Shah and stopping the massacre of Delhi, Nizam-ul-Mulk played a
conspicuous part and was rewarded with the title of Asaf Jah. He was then one of the
ablest statesmen of the time even though his advice fell upon deaf ears. He declared
himself independent of the Moghuls in 1724, and founded the Asafia dynasty.

The later Nizams, neither so wise nor so capable, maintained themselves somehow
amid the conflicting new powers of the time — ^the Hon’ble East India Company, the
Tfenchmen and the Marathas. In this sempiternal conflict, the Nizams steadily lost,
despite their playing one off against the other, until John Company became Queen Vic-
toria’s empire. Thereafter the Nizams were as good as any other ruler at the mercy of
the British Crown.

• ' *Regp.fded as one of the six largest dties in India, Hyderabad together with

53

Secunderabad, has a total population of over 10,85,000. One interesting fact is that
Secunderabad has more women while Hyderabad has more men. In Hyderabad, males
exceed females by about 6,178. According to satistics literacy is about 25.25 per cent.

At present the twin cities cover about 96 square miles. Here, it is interesting to note
that the area of Paris is only 30 square miles. The Musi divides old and new Hydera-
bad, which are connected by four narrow bridges. The old city is on the right bank
and the new on the left, but growth has been all round, and the old city is only a core
round which new areas have come up. Hyderabad has many distinctive divisions
which are small towns by themselves. The aristocratic localities are acknowledged
to be Banjara Hills, Somajiguda, and Saifabad, while modern colonies comprise
Himayatnagar, Hyderguda, and Narayanguda. Mushirabad is an industrial area while
Adigmet is the seat of the Osmania University. The left bank is decidedly more pic-
turesque, and is perhaps the real capital because almost all Government offices are on
this side of the river. The Secretariat and the Mint fringe upon the Hussainsagar,
while Shah Manzil in Somajiguda and adjoining palaces Have been for long the
stronghold of Hyderabad’s Prime Ministers and administrator^ ^ Below the shadow
of the Naubat Pahar, are the Town Hall, the Nizam Club, the Darbar Hall, the Police
Headquarters, the Zoo and the Public Gardens. Across the railway line are other resi-
dential quarters such as Red Hills and Mallepalli. The A.C, Guard Lines, Mansahe-
ba’s Tank and Asifnagar and beyond were once the Nizam’s army’s strong points.

Khairiatabad is another amazing locality where the primitive and the modern,
and rural and urban scenes, intermingle. Here, buildings vary from the swineherd’s
hovel on a drainage sewer to such imposing an edifice as the Institution of Engineers.
Adjoining the Fateh Maidan, is the Nizam College and from here to the river bank, the
area comprising Abid Road, Sultan Bazar, Station Road, Afzalgunj and other streets
and bazars, is a great centre of trade, commerce, banking, law and business of all kinds.
It can be favourably compared to Clive Sreet, Calcu tta, ai^ the City in London.

, ‘ Chadarghat is another picturesque locality, which at one time comprised the entire
area up to Gunfoundry. This was the northern suburb of the city separated from it by
the Musi river. According to the Imperial Gazetteer of 1909, ** It derives its name from
a dam 12 feet high thrown across the Musi, over which the water falls like a sheet
(chadar). At one time this suburb contained most of the houses of the Europeans in the
service of the Nizam and also of native officials, and has sprung up within the last fifty
years. In 1850 with the exception of the Residency and its bazars, there was scarcely
a building to be found where houses may be now counted by thousands, many of them
fine buildings. The Roman Cathohe Cathedral and All Saints’ School; the old French
Gunfoundry erected by M. Raymond, and referred to by Malcolm (1798) as a place in
which ‘ they cast excellent cannon and made serviceable muskets Sir W. Rumbold’s
house (Rumbold’s Kothi) now occupied by the Nizam College, the King Kothi, where
the Nizam’s eldest son resides; the Public Works Office; the Hyderabad College; and tile

54

fine buildings known as the Saifabad Palace, now used as the offices of the Financial, Pub-
lic Works and the Private Secretaries, were once all included in this area. Adjoining the
compound of this palace in the west is the Mint and Stamp Office, an immense buil-
ding which was completed in 1904.”

The city was once surrounded by a stone wall flanked with bastions, and pierced
with thirteen gates and twelve khirkis or posterns. It was built in the form of a parallelo-
gram, six miles in circumference and 2^ square miles in area. The wall was commenced
by Mubariz Khan, the last Moghul Subahdar, and completed by the first of the Nizams.
The city has extended beyond its former limits on the north and east. Four bridges
span the Musi. The Purana Pul, or 'Old Bridge,’ is the westernmost, and theOliphant
or Chadarghat Bridge, the easternmost, while between these two are the Afzal Bridge
and the Musallamjung Bridge.

The Dar-ush-shifa (hospital) about 200 yards to the north-west of the Purani Havcli
(old palace), built by Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, is a large building consisting of a paved
quadrangular courtyard, with chambers all round for the accommodation of the sick.
A number of native physicians were formerly maintained to minister to the sick and to
teach medicine. Opposite the' entrance is a fine mosque erected at the same time as
the hospital. The Ashur Khana, a large building west of Sir Salar Jung’s palace, was
erected by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qptb Shah in 1594, at a cost of Rs. 66,000. It is
used for the Muharram ceremonies. The Gosha Mahal palace, erected hy Abul
Hasan, the last Qptb Shahi King, stands a mile north of the city and has a large
cistern and pleasure grounds for the zanana. The.Jami Masjid, which is near the
Char Minar, was built in 1596. Ruins of a Turkish bath are to be seen in the courtyard.
With the exception of the Mecca Masjid and the Gosha Mahal, most of the buildings
here were constructed by Sultan Muhammad Qpli Qutb Shah, who is said to have
spent three million sterling on public buildings and irrigation works, while his nobles
followed his example. An extensive burial-ground known as Mir Momin’s Daira,
was originally consecrated as the necropolis of the Shiah sect by Mir Momin, who
came to Hyderabad from Karbala, in the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah. It contains
his remains, but now both Shiahs and Sunnis are buried here. Sir Salar Jung’s family
burial-ground lies to the south of the Daira.

The Nizam’s Ghaumahalla palace consists of three quadrangles with handsome
buildings on either side, and large cisterns in the centre. The palace is luxuriously
and tastefully furnished, and the zanana or ladies’ • apartments lie beyond the third
quadrangle. There are other royal residences at Golconda, Sururnagar, Maula AH,
Asafnagar, Lingampalli and Malakpet. Salar Jung’s palace, now a national museum,
is situated near the new bridge and consists of two portions, one containing the Baradari
and Lakkar Kot (wooden palace) lies on the right bank of the Musi, and the other is
beyond the road -leading to the Purani Havcli, Both are extensive bxiildings covering a
large space of ground; Shams- ul- U inara’s 'Baradari, situated in the ' w^st of the dty,

KARIMNAGAa

H

*■- -■•ISTORICALLY Karimnagar is a little obscure, though there are traces which
represent a people lost to history but who may have flourished over 2,500 years ago. At
EDanthakimta local tradition associates the temples of Sri Rama with Sri Ramchandraji’s
visit to the place while in exile in the Dandakaranya. Where history fails, surely tradition
must take its place. Hewitt’s references to Tdingana in his Ruling Races of Prehistone
Tims seem to indicate that this part of the south was by no means unimportant in the
ancient world.

The district was formerly known as “ Sarkar Yeligandal ” and in 1905 was renamed
as Karimnagar. Most of the district was under the kings of Warangal and portions of
the present Mahadeopur taluq were under the Gond rajas. Malik Kafur, a general
of Alauddin Khilji, invaded this country in the year 1309 and defeated Raja Pratap
of Warangal and the forts of Elgandal and Malangur fell into Muslim hands. In
1507 these forts passed into the hands of Qutb Shahis along with Warangal. These
were later occupied by the Nizam.

Close to the fort of Malangur there arc old graves, bdieved to be those of Jains.
Another fort of interest in the district is the Ramgir fort situated on the top of a hill.

FORT OF 400 TEMPLES

The Nagnur fort has considerable historical importance. It derives its name from the
fact that there were 400 temples in it at one time. “ Nalgunoorlu,” the Tdugu word for
four hundred, was corrupted to “ Nagnur.” Even today there are two good temples —
one of Vishnu and the other of Siva. There are three stupas or pillars called “Budhatis,”
which are believed to have been constructed during Asoka’s time. This shows, that
the place is of ancient oiigin.

The temples of Kaleswar and Dharmapuri on the banks of the Godavari and those at
Vcmalwada and Ellanthakimta attract large numbers of pilgrims durir^ the annual

74

jatras. At Kaleswar is one of the Siva temples that mark the CKtremity of the Trilinga
or Telugu country in the north.

The fort at Elgandal, built by Zafaruddaula about 1754, contains a mosque with
a minaret which oscillates when shaken.

Injamikunta are the two forts of Bajgur and Malangur, said to have been built
respectively 700 and 1,000 years ago, and the two temples of Gurshal and Katkur.
The former, built about 1229, during the reign of Raja Pratap Rudra of Warangal,
though now in ruins has exquisite stone carvings still in a good state of preservation.
A pillar outside the temple has an inscription in Oriya.

The fort of Jagtial was built for Zafaruddaula, in 1747, by French engineers. In
the same taluq is the old temple at Dharampuri on the right bank of the Godavari.

The old fort of Anantagiri in the Sirsilla taluq, now in ruins, is built on a hill. Two
mosques in the taluq, one at Kaleswar and the other at Sonipet, were built by Aurangzeb,
as also was the mosque at Rajgopalpet in the Siddipet taluq,

Pratapgiri fort in the Mahadeopur taluq, is said to have been built by Raja Pratap
Rudra.

Vemalwada has a temple on the south of a large tank in the enclosure of which is
the tomb of Hazrat Beg Sarwar which is regarded as sacred by Hindus and Muslims
alike.

In the Karimnagar taluq, Bijikhi has an old sculptured Siva temple the four central
columns of whose mandapa are well-carved, while Kotapetta has a temple of the
Ghaliikyan (Kakatiya) period.

HUZURABAD

The dargah of Shah Wali at Malangur is held in great esteem by Hindus as well as
Muslims, while the hill fort there is said to have been built 1,000 years ago.

A 13th- 14th century temple at Borapalli has a stone slab with Nandi on top and
Kannada ii^criptions on .either side.

JAGTIAL

The fort here was built for Zafaruddaula by French engineers and is on the same lines
th^t at Nirmal. There is also a mosque of the period in Jagtial.

SULTANABAD

The temple at Kundagal has a beautifully sculptured column cairved in black stone,
while the ruined temple consecrated to Siva and Vishnu has a finely sculptured slab
inside. Huge blocks of stone have been used in constructing this building.

in thb taluq is regarded as a holy place because Sage

75

Gautama performed his tapas here. There are several temples here, the largest being the
Silesvaragudi which has a sikhara resembling those of south Indian temples. An inscrip-
tion in old Nagri refers to king Ganapati of Warangal.

Karimnagar has also numerous prehistoric sites scattered all over the district.

MAHBOOBNAGAR

In the story of Sindbad the Sailor in The Thousand and One Mights the tale is told of
diamonds in an inaccessible gorge, into which animal carcases were thrown to be carried
away by the roc, a gigantic bird, with diamonds adhering to them.

This gorge might well have been one of the Krishna gorges in Mahboobnagar
district, and the narrator evidently combined the well-known property of diamonds
adhering to animal fat, and the sacrifice of goats which the diamond miners, as Tavernier
relates, were in the habit of making on the openii^ of a new workmg to ensure its success.

THE DIAMONDS OF GOLCONDA

But Indian diamonds were famous even in 500 B.G. when they were estported to
Iran. The Brihat Samfdia (A.D. 550) mentions eight localities where diamonds were
then found, and among tlicm Panna (Central India) and the Krishna area only can be
identified.

It was, however, during the Qjxtb Shahi' period that Golconda achieved world fiimc
as a diamond market. In 1645, Tavernier, a French jewdler, visited Golconda and the
Qjitb Shahi kingdom, and he says that he found 60,000 workers in the KoUur group of
nunes. He also records that diamonds were cut in the village of Karwan outside Gol-
conda fort.

The Krishna basin has produced some femous diamonds. The KOH-I-NUR was
found at KoUur in Madras, south of the Krishna, about 1656-1657, and was presented by
Mir Jumla to Shah Jahan. The stone then weighed 787^ carats. It has passed through
many handls and is in the Imperial Regalia of Britain.

The PITT or REGENT diamond was found in 1701 in Partial, weighed 410 carats
and is now the property of the French Republic. It is exhibited in the ApoUo Gallery of
the Louvre, and valued at ^ 48,000. It was reduced by cutting to about 137 carats.

The HOPE DIAMOND is perhaps a portion of the blue drop-form diamond found

78

at Kollur and sold by Tavernier to Louis XIV in 1642. It then weighed about 67 carats.

The NIZAM diamond of 277 carats is only a portion of a diamond which is said to
have weighed 440 carats before it broke. Tavernier also saw at Golconda the GRKAT
TABLE diamond weighing 242 carats, which Maskelyne considers to be identical with
the DARYA-I-NUR in the possession of the Shahs of Persia.

Partial, one-time enclave of Hyderabad in Madras, also has diamond-bearing forma-
tions. It is, however, a moot point whether the rocks of the Klrishna basin can be worked
for diamonds today.

LAND OF THE CHOLAS

As Panagal and Panugallu, Mahboobnagar goes far back into history and prehistory.
The ancient name of the region was Gholawadi or the land of the Cholas.’® It was
bounded on the north by the Musi and in the south by the Krishna, thus corresponding
to Panagal or Mahboobnagar, and Nalgonda. The great days of the Gholas began
in 480 A.D.

The subsequent history of the district follows the usual pattern of other regions of
Andhradesa, linked up as it was with the fortunes of various Andhra dynasties. Finally,
on the fall of the kingdom of Warangal, it came under the Bahmanis. South of Panagal
village, the fortress of Panagal in the Nagarkarnool taluq still commemorates the defeat of
Feroz Shah Bahmani in 1470 by the rajas of Warangal and Vijayanagar, and the decisive
victory of Sultan Qtili Qutb Shah over the king of Vijayanagar in 1513. Both these
historic battles were fought outside the fortress.

The fortress is a mile and half long and a mile broad, having seven walls, a citadel in
the centre and seven towers. Illegible inscriptions are engraved on a couple of slabs
outside the fort. According to another Telugu inscription in the citadel, the king^s
mother lived in the foi't in 1604 when tjie seneschal was Khairat Khan. The second
Nizam also resided in one of the buildings in the fort from 1786 to 1789.

TEMPLE OF 900 STEPS

To retrace the history after the fall of the Bahmanis, a portion of Mahboobnagar
district was annexed by the Qutb Shahi kings, while the other portion became part of
Bijapur. After 1686, the district became part of Aurangzeb’s empire, and early in the
18th century it was incorporated in the Nizam’s dominions.

The fort of Koilkonda was built by Ibrahim Qutb Shah, one of the Golconda kings,
and contains substantial buildings which are now in ruins. In the Amrabad feiluq is a
ruined fort, called the Pratap Rudra Kot, which could shelter a large garrison. The old
ruined city of Ghandraguptapatmam, 32 miles south of Amrabad on the left bank of the
Krishna, was a very populous place during the reign of Pratap Rudra, raja of Warangal.
Besides these, there are four old .temples of which the Maheswara temple is built on a

79

hill with 900 steps from the foot to the summit. Mahboobnagar was formerly known
as Nagaj'karnooL

AMRABAD

Beautiful as the Amrabad plateau is, it is not without its monuments. The Maheswara
temple of 900 steps has already been mentioned, but there are forts and temples at
Rangapur, Ghandraguptapatnam and Mannanur.

GADWAL

This old Samasthan, which was incorporated with the State on the abolition of the
Jagirdari, has an old Hindu fortress built in the south Indian style at Gadwal, and a
temple at Pardur.

JADCHERLA

In this taluq there are temples, prehistoric sites, remains of the Buddhist period and
an old tower built during the Muslim period.

MAHBOOBNAGAR

The town has a Jami Masjid, temples and forts and mosques in Bodhpur, Lingal,
Nasarullabad, Badaypalli and Ghanpur. At Koilkonda there is a 16th century
inscription on a small pillar in front of the gate. Here is also the Idgah of Hazrat
Syed Abdxir Rahman Ghishti, dating from the 16th or 17th century.

HANDED

N

5^ ™ ANDl TAT of thf Puramx and Nao Nand of prehistory, Nanded is the
sacred-most city of the Sikhs in southern India. The Purams refer to Nanded as a very
sacred place too. MacAlifT gives another intei'esting version of the origin of Nanded :

“ The original name of Nanded was ‘ Nao nand ’ because it is said that nine rishis
dwelt there in prehistoric times. It is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient city of
Tagara described by the author of Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. In the middle of the
4th century it was still a place of importance and the capital of a petty kingdom. Its
fortifications have since been dismantled or have perished by lapse of time, and there is
no trace of any ancient buildings.”

Yet another story relates how Raja Anand wanted to shift the early Chalukyan
capital from Kalyani to Nanded, built a tank by constructing stone dykes and founded the
hamlet of “ Nandgiri ” on one of the hillocks called Ratnagari. In the 4th century a
branch of the Chalukya king's of Warangal ruled over Nanded. In Praiaparudra Taso-
bhushan, the book of the Kakatiya kings of Warangal, it is mentioned that Nanda Deo of
the royal Kakatiya dynasty reigned in the area with his capital at Nanded, and that
Nandgiri at Nanded was constructed in his time. His son Somdeva ruled over Kandahar
for a long time. The fort of Kandahar is popularly believed to l^ve been erected by
Somdeva, but it may also be connected with Krishna III, the Rashtrakuta king of
Malkhed, who is styled lord of Kandaharapura. It is surrounded by a ditch and a strong
stone wall. Deglur contains an old temple of Ganda Maharaj, and Bhaisa another
one built in the Hemadpanti style.

THE GLORY THAT WAS NANDED

Madhav Verman, the son of Sotndeva, was one of the ancestors of the Kakatiya
rulers. During the regime of these the worship of Siva and his bullock Nandi was
the order of the day, and the ruins of many a temple built in those days still proclaims

94

the glory that was Nanded. Madhav Verman was interested in breeding pedigree
cattle, and to this day horses from all parts of India, and even from Kabul, Qandhar,
Kathiawad, Nepal and Banaras take part in the ancient annual fair at Malegaon, in
Kandahar taluq.

In a copper plate found at Basim, Nanded is mentioned as Nandikal or Nandikada,
which is more or less equivalent to Nandi Tat of the Puranas. Apart from Nanded and
Kandahar, the localities known as Kowlas (Kailas) and Bichkunda (Muchkunda, the
abode of Muchkund rishis), have also a historical background going back to the days
of the Chalukyas and the Kakatiyas.

Other places of interest originating in the Hindu period are the temple of Saraswati
at Basar, the Narasimha temple at Nanded, and the Buddhistic and Jain temples at
Nanded, Ardhapur and Kandahar. With the advent of Muslims in the Deccan, this
area passed from the Chalukyas, Kakatiyas and the Yadavas to Alauddin Khilji and
Muhammad Tughlaq. Then came the Bahmanis and the town of Nanded, being on the
banks of the Godavari, assumed importance as a riverside trade centre and ferry-town for
traffic between the north and Bidar, Hyderabad, Warangal and the Deccan. For the
same reasons it became a military centre as well.

Dmring the premiership of Mahmud Gawan a redistribution of the Subas took place
and Nanded was included in the Suba of Mahor (Mahur), Balaghat. Gawan stayed at
Nanded and Kandahar for some time, and for this reason the locality of Wazirabad came
to be named after him, as he was known as Wazir Mahmud. In documents dating
from Malik Ambar’s time, Nanded is mentioned as '' Peth Wazirabad.” In 1500, the
Bahmanis yielded place to the Barid Shahis and Amir Barid established himself at Kanda-
har and Bidar. Later the Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi king s had their
days. Malik Ambar, a sardar of the Nizam Shahi kings of .'Uunadnagar, war at Nanded
when displaced by the Moghuls in the year 1602.

During the Bahmani period some notable Muslim saints made their homes in the
district. The principal among tliem were Hazrat Shah Makka Awlia, Shah Fathulla
Nuri and Syed Shah Wall, Avho have their tombs at Nanded, the period of their pontificate
being from 1051 to 1151 Hijri. Mention may also be made of Haji Sayyad Saidud-
din Sarwar MakHdum, whose tomb is at Kandahar, where an annual Urs Is held even
now. Two old mosques at Nanded were built by Malik Ambar and one by the Qjitb
Shahis. A serai built by Mir Alam recalls the troublous days when the ambitions of the
Marathas, the French, Tippu Sultan and the East India Company had made southern
India a cauldron of suffering and iniquity. Long before that, with the coming of Guru
Gobind Singhji in 1706, Nanded achieved an immortal place in the history of

GURU GOBIND SINGHJI MAHARAJ
^er the final battles of Anandpur, Chamkaur and Muktasar, when the Khalsa

95

Pantk had been placed on a solid foundation, the Tenth Guru withdrew himself from the
political arena of the Punjab and retired to Damdama Sahib and wrote the Z^farnama^
a poignantly pathetic and forcible communique, to Aurangzeb who was then busy quel-
ling disturbances in the Deccan. Charmed by the impressive spiritual and magnetic
personality of the Guru, Aurangzeb invited him for a personal interview at Ahmadnagar
and the Guru left for the Deccan. But Aurangzeb died while the Guru was still on his
way, and in the civil war that followed Guru Gobind Singh supported Prince Shah Alam,
who became Bahadur Shah I. Thus, there came to exist strong ties of goodwill and
affection between the Guru and Bahadur Shah, who requested the former to accompany
him to the Deccan. With his select cavaliers, the Guru accompanied Bahadur Shah.
During his stay at Ujjain, Guru Gobind Singhji came to know of the valour and
witchcraft of Madho Das Bairagl of Nanded, afterwards named as Banda Bahadur
and he desired to meet him. Grossing the Narmada and the Tapd, the Guru and his
party entered the Maratha territory which presented a sorry spectacle of the decline of the
central power, and reached the banks of the Godavari at Abchalnagar in 1707. While
Bahadur Shah left for Golconda to quell the rebellion of Kambaksh, the Guru stayed at
Nanded and decided to settle down.

THREW A DIAMOND IN THE GODAVARI

The very first spot where he encamped at Nanded is appropriately marked and
designated by the Sangat Sahib Gurdwara. At Banda Ghat, Madho Das paid his first
respects to the Guru. A Lambada disciple offered a rai'e diamond at the feet of Guru
Gobind Singhji, who, however, threw it away into the waters of the Godavari, and this
place is known as Nagina Ghat.

In the meantime Guru Gobind Singhji’s end drew near. One day when he was
lecturing on God’s love for mankind irrespective of caste or creed, clan or country, and
was attacking creeds which legalized the persecution of people differing in faith, he was
stabbed by a Pathan fanatic. The wound was immediately dressed, and in a few months
the Guru was able to go about and attend to his usual programme of work. Unfortuna-
tely however, before the wound was quite healed he tried to draw a huge bow at an
athletic tournament. The effort was too much for an invalid, and the stitches of the
wound broke asunder, causing profuse bleeding. When he saw that his strength was
failing and that his dissolution was approaching, he called his disciples and told them to
hold the principles laid down in the Grantk Sahib as their Guru. His dissolution took place
at the, age of 42 in 1708 A.D. — Samvat 1765 Vikram — on Sudhi 5th Kartik at midnight,
and the body was cremated. The ashes were buried at a spot where now stands
the Gurdwara of Huzur Sahib, Abchalnagar, at Nanded.

THE HUZUR SAHIB GURDWARA
There are various other legends and myths that have grown around the dissolution

94

the glory that was Nanded. Madhav Verman was interested in breeding pedigree
cattle, and to this day horses from all parts of India, and even from Kabul, Qandhar,
Kathiawad, Nepal and Banaras take part in the ancient annual fair at Malegaon, in
Kandahar taluq.

In a copper plate found at Basim, Nanded is mentioned as Nandikal or Nandikada,
which is more or less eqiiivalent to Nandi Tat of the Puranas. Apart from Nanded and
Kandahar, the localities known as Kowlas (Kailas) and Bichkunda (Muchkunda, the
abode of Muchkund rishis), have also a historical background going back to the days
of the Ghalukyas and the Kakatiyas,

Other places of interest originating in the Hindu period are the temple of Saraswati
at Basar, the Narasimha temple at Nanded, and the Buddhistic and Jain temples at
Nanded, Ardhapur and Kandahar, With the advent of Muslims in the Deccan, this
area passed from the Ghalukyas, Kakatiyas and the Yadavas to Alauddin Khilji and
Muhammad Tughlaq. Then came the Bahmanis and the town of Nanded, being on the
banks of the Godavari, assumed importance as a riverside trade centre and ferry-town for
traffic between the north and Bidar, Hyderabad, Warangal and the Deccan. For the
same reasons it became a military centre as well.

During the premiership of Mahmud Gawan a redistribution of tlie Subas took place
and Nanded was included in the Suba of Mahor (Mahur), Balaghat. Gawan stayed at
Nanded and Kandahar for some time, and for this reason the locality of Wazirabad came
to be named after him, as he was known as Wazir Mahmud. Ir> documents dating
from Malik Ambar’s time, Nanded is mentioned as '' Peth Wazirabad.” In 1500, the
Bahmanis yielded place to the Barid Shahis and Amir Barid established himself at Kanda-
har and Bidar. Later the Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi kings had their
days. Malik x4mbar, a sardar of the Nizam Shahi kings of Ahmadnagar, war at Nanded
when displaced by the Moghuls in the year 1602.

During tlie Bahmani period .some notable Muslim saints made thefr homes in the
district. The principal among tliem were Hazrat Shah Makka Awlia, Shah Fathulla
Nuri and Syed Shah Wali, who have their tombs at Nanded, the period of their ponlifiaite
being from 1051 to 1151 Hijri. Mention may also be made of Haji Sayyud Saidud-
din Sarwar MakKdum, whose tomb is at Kandahar, where an annual Ui-s is hold even
now. Tw'O old mosques at Nanded were built by Malik Ambar aud one by the Qptb
Shahis. A serai built by Mir Alam recalls the troublous days when the ambitions of the
Marathas, the French, Tippu Sultan and the East India Gompany had made southern
India a cauldron of suffering and iniquity. Long before that, with the coming of Guru
Gobind Singhji in 1706, Nanded achieved an immortal place in the history of

GURU GOBIND SINGHJI MAHARAJ
After the final battles of Anandpur, Chamkaur and Muktasar, when the Khalsa

95

Pantii had been placed on a solid foundation, the Tenth Guru withdrew himself from the
political arena of the Punjab and retired to Damdama Sahib and wrote the Z^farnama,
a poignantly pathetic and forcible communique, to Aurangzeb who was then busy quel-
ling disturbances in the Deccan. Charmed by the impressive spiritual and magnetic
personality of the Guru, Aurangzeb invited him for a personal interview at Ahmadnagar
and the Guru left for the Deccan. But Aurangzeb died while the Guru was still on his
way, and in the civil war that followed Guru Gobind Singh supported Prince Shah Alam,
who became Bahadur Shah I. Thus, there came to exist strong ties of goodwill and
affection between the Guru and Bahadur Shah, v/ho requested the former to accompany
him to the Deccan. With his select cavaliers, the Guru accompanied Bahadur Shah.
During his stay at Ujjain, Guru Gobind Singhji came to know of the valour and
witchcraft of Madho Das Bairagi of Nanded, afterwards named as Banda Bahadur
and he desired to meet him. Grossing the Narmada and the Tapti, the Guru and his
party entered the Maratha territory which presented a sorry spectacle of the decline of the
central power, and reached the banks of the Godavari at Abchalnagar in 1707. While
Bahadur Shah left for Golconda to quell the rebellion of Kambaksh, the Guru stayed at
Nanded and decided to settle down.

THREW A DIAMOND IN THE GODAVARI

The very first spot where he encamped at Nanded is appropriately marked and
designated by the Sangat Sahib Gurdwara. At Banda Ghat, Madho Das paid his first
respects to the Guru. A Lambada disciple offered a rare diamond at the feet of Guru
Gobind Singhji, who, however, threw it away into the waters of the Godavari, and this
place is known as Nagina Ghat.

In the meantime Guru Gobind Singhji’s end drew near. One day when he was
lecturing on God’s love for mankind irrespective of caste or creed, clan or country, and
was attacking creeds which legalized the persecution of people differing in faith, he was
stabbed by a Pathan fanatic. The wound was immediately dressed, and in a few months
the Guru was able to go about and attend to his usual programme of work. Unfortuna-
tely however, before the wound was quite healed he tried to draw a huge bow at an
athletic tournament. The effort was too much for an invalid, and the stitches of the
wound broke asunder, causing profuse bleeding. When he saw that his strength was
failing and that his dissolution was approaching, he called his disciples and told them to
hold the principles laid down in the Granih Sahib as their Guru. His dissolution took place
at the, age of 42 in 1708 A.D. — Samvat 1765 Vikram — on Sudhi 5th Kartik at midnight,
and the body was cremated. The ashes were buried at a spot where now stands
the Gurdwara of Huzur Sahib, Abchalnagar, at Nanded.

THE HUZUR SAHIB GURDWARA
There are various other legends and myths that have grown around the dissolution

96

of the Guru, but the Gurdwara of Huzur Sahib, Abchalnagar, is an amazing structure
with a cupola and t\vo minarets. It is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs, who
hold this Gurdwara in great veneration. The present shrine was erected by Maharaja
Ranjit Singh in 1837, and there are some magnificent specimens of marble mosaic on
pillars as well as on the floor. The dome of the Gurdwara, the roof and the central
verandah are heavily gold plated. During the Prime Ministership of Maharaja Chandu-
lal a jagir of five villages was granted for Mandidlp and pujapatri of the Guru Sahib. The
annual income of the Gurdwara is sometimes as much as one lakh of rupees. Apart
from the main Gurdwara there are seven minor Gurdwaras, namely Hira Ghat, Sikhar
Ghat, Mata Sahiba, Sangat Sahib, Maltekri, Banda Ghat and Nagina Ghat, each of
which commemorates some miracle or notable incident in the life of Guru Gobind Singhji.

The inner sanctuary of the Gurdwara, the Manji Sahib or the samadhi of Guru
Gobind Singh Maharaj, is opened long before dawn and once the Head Pujari enters
the samadhi the doors are closed after him. He bathes the Manji Sahib ^ Shashtras (wea-
pons) and Poskaks (valuable garments) with water brought from the Godavari, cleans
and arranges them. While this is being done inside, the Granthi Maharaj who is in the
Chowki invokes the permission of the Guru Grantk Sahib for Prakash^ and the Ragis chant
the hymn Asa-Ka-Var. This continues till 6 or 7 a.m. Then the Head Pujari comes
out of the Mandir, and this is known as Prakash of Mandir Sahib> Then Ardashy and
Pershad are offered to the Guru Granth Sahib, after which the Head Pujari opens all
the four doors of the Mandir and inner precincts and Pershad is distributed to all. For
nearly one hour Ragis sing kirtans, such as Anand Sahib which are followed by Ad
Sree Guru Grantk katha. Once again between 10 and 11 there is offering of Karapershad
and other Pershads. Kirtan Chowki charan kowl and katha of Dasam Granth Sahib follow
during the day. In the evening Sodar Sahib’s kirtan is recited and Karapershad is
offered. After distribution of the Pershad, Arti^ Chowki and Kirtan Sohalla take place and
thereafter the function terminates.

BHAISA

This town in Madhol taluq possesses an old tank with an Idgah on its western bank,
a temple dating from 11th to 13th century, three Muslim dargahs and a Jami Masjid.

Other antiquities and archaeological remains in the taluq are at Basar and Sirala-
Degaon.

BILLOLI

The mosque of Sarfaraz Khan, a Moghul governor in 1645, was built during the
reign of Shah Jahan.

KAULAS

In the Deglur taluq, Kaulas has the Mahadeva temple dating from 13 th to 14th

97

century, the Khooni or bloody Masjid dating from 16th to 17th century, the shrine
of the 17th century saint Bahlul Shah and the dargah of Shah Ziaul Haq. There is also
an old fort here, which was wrested from the rajas of Warangal in 1323 A.D. by the
Muslims.

KANDAHAR

A fort here is said to have been originally built by Somdeva, the raja of Kandahar,
and later added to by Krishna III, the Rashtrakuta raja of Malkhed styled Lord of
Kandaharpura,’* but there are inscriptions referring to Muhammad Tughlaq, Ibrahim
Adil Shah and Aurangzeb.

Notable features are many pieces of Turkish ordnance with names of engineers and
dates on them. The Muharhmad Shahi Jami Masjid has inscriptions relating to Ibrahim
Adil Shah and Nizam Shah.

NIZaMABaD

I

*-NDUR was the original name of Nizamabad, Indur is a corrupted form of “ Indra-
puri,” named after an ancient king. This king may have been Indradatta of the rebel
Trikuntaka dynasty, circa 388 A.D., who ruled over the lower regions of the Narmada
and the Tapti, or the mighty Vishnukundin Indravarman I, circa 500 A.D., or some other
king of the same name and same dynasty. Historically obscure, Indur was conquered
by Alauddin Khilji in 1311 and later formed part of the Bahmani and Qptb Shahi king-
doms, and the Moghul Empire until it came under the Nizams,

The original “ Indur District ” underwent large-scale territorial changes in 1905
and the name Indur itself was changed to Nizamabad, after the railway line had been
completed.

To the natural beauty of rivers, canals, forests and the Nizamsagar project, must
also be added the remarkable examples of temple architecture in the district.

BODHAN

The Deval Masjid here seems to have been originally a temple. The conversion is
likely to have taken place during Muhammad Tughlaq’s time as indicated by two
Persian inscriptions. Rashtrakuta inscriptions in Kannada-Telugu have also been
found in Bodhan.

DICHPALLI

Some ten miles east of Nizamabad near Dichpalli there is a beautifully carved temple
of Vaishanava. There had been no idols in tWs temple for a loi^ time but they were
restored nearly three years ago. Bxiilt on a flat hillock and having a large tank in
front, it is a picturesque landmark. It has exquisite carvings and circular columns

100

in Dravidian style and is enclosed by a strong masonry wall.

JANKAMPET

The old temple here has a central mandapa, ante-chamber, a shrine and a pillared
hall styled as dharmashala. It is not, however, of very great architectural or artistic merits.

NIZAMABAD CITY

The oldest archaeological remains today are Jaina sculptures employed in fortifica-
tions which date from 12th century A.D, The fort belongs to Qjuitb Shahi era. The
tomb of a nameless saint is another feature. The temple of Kanteshwar though compa-
ratively new is worthy of a visit.

At Garuasamudram, a small village ten miles south of the town, there are tombs of
three Armenians which date from 17th century, while about half a dozen miles to the west
there is a famous temple of Hanuman where Swami Ramdas of Shivaji fame is supposed
to have worshipped for some time.

OSMANABAD

A

a district Osmaiiabad is quite recent but it has many places of protohistoric
as well as historic importance which proclaim even today the glory of the ancient past.

According to local tradition Sri Rama received divine guidance about the route
to Lanka in the vicinity of Tuljapur near the Jumnajal hill. Here Sri Rama prayed
to Devi Tuljabhavani who revealed the path, and the place is even today known as
Ghat Saile.

Tagara, whose ruins still remain unexplored in the town of Thair (Ter), was
famous during the Andhra period as Tagara muslin and Paithan onyx were two of the
commodities exported to Imperial Rome.

Latur — corrupted from Lattalur — ^is a link with the Rashtrakutas of Manapura,
King Krishna I of which dynasty was the author of the famous Kailasa at Ellora. It
is not known whether Manapur or Lattalur was the original capital until it was shifted
to Manayakheta by King Govinda III. Osmanabad was originally Dharasiva, a name
lost in the history of Saivism.

Osmanabad has been a frontier district of the State in more ways than one. Like
Aurangabad and Nalgonda, it has had an aura of military importance inasmuch as it is
a wild rocky area difficult to attack but easy to resist. Probably because the district
was the nearest point of attack for the Marathas in their heyday that it came to assume
a strat^c value for the Nizams. Historically, it has been a bone of contention between
the Adil Shahis of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar.

The district came tmder Muslim rule in the beginning of the 14th century,
when it was annexed to the empire of Delhi by Alauddin Khilji. On the foundation of
the Bahmani kingdom, it fell to that power, and, when that monarchy in turn dissolved,
to the Sultans of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur. The conquest of the Deccan by Aurangzeb
reunited it to Delhi, till the foundation of Hyderabad State in the early part of the 18th
century. It was ceded to the British Government with the Raichur docA- under

102

the treaty of 1853, but was restored to the Nizam in I860,

MOST PIGTURESQJJE PLAGE IN THE DEGGAN

Six places of archaeological interest figure in the district — Naldrug, Owsa, Osmanabad,
Parenda, Thair (Ter) and Tuljapur. Naldrug is an outpost town right on the
frontier itself. The fort of Naldrug is situated above the ravine of the Bori river,
and is one of the best fortified and most pictureque places in the Deccan. Meadows
Taylor has given a very interesting and impressive description of the fort in his book
The Story of My Life. Before the Muslim invasion in the 14th century it belonged to
a local raja, probably a vassal of the Ghalukyas. It fell to the Bahmani dynasty who
built the stone fortifications. After the division of the Bahmani kingdom in 1482, it
was seized by the Adil Shahis of Bijapur, and was a bone of contention between them
and the Ahmadnagar Sultans. Ali Adil Shah in 1558 not only added to the fortifications,
but also erected a dam across the Bori, which afforded a constant supply of water to .the
garrison.

ANCIENT CAVES AND SHRINES

Groups of caves known as the Dabar Lena, Chamar Lena and Lachandar Lena lie
around the town of Osmanabad (Dharaseo), the first-mentioned group being Jain and
Vaishanava excavations. Roughly the caves may be assigned to the period between
A.D. 500 and 650. Hasangaon, 40 miles north-west of Naldrug, contains two large
caves in a solitary hill, which were Brahmanical rock shrines. (Detailed information
about these caves is given in Dharaseo or Osmanahad Caves obtainable from the Director
of Archaeology, Hyderabad.)

SACRED TO DEVI TULJABHAVANI

Tuljapur, a town 20 miles north-west of Naldrug, is a famous place of Hindu pilgrim-
age, In a ravine at the foot of the hill is the temple of Tuljabhavani, which is visited
by Hindus from all parts of India, especially on the full moon of the Dassara festival, when
a great jatra is held. It was here that the path to Lanka was revealed to Sri Rama by
the goddess.

The temple is situated on a hill, but one has to go down into the temple to reach
‘ the deity. The original old temple was built nearly 800 years ago. The Maharajas of
Kolhapur and Satara, and Ahalya Bai Holkar, are known to have built the huge outer
structure of the temple. All Marathas believe in Tuljabhavani as their Kuldevata (family
deity). Many costly orn^ents given by Shivaji are still used for puja on occasions of
celebrations. There is one go-mukh . (cow’s mouth) inside the temple, through which

103

water falls continuously and ultimately goes to kallol teerth (tank) where pilgrims bathe.

Behind the Bhavani temple there is another temple called Bharatiya Math which is
situated in the valley. It is believed that the goddess goes there at night for playing chess
with the gods and a chess-board and cowries are religiously kept in the Math. The cowries
are worn by the Bhutyas, the Gondhalis and the Aradhis, who are a peculiar tribe of pro-
fessional worshippers of Bhavani.

MANKESAR

Here are Mahadeva temples of 13th and 14th centuries of the Chalukyan type. The
group is constructed of fine granite stone richly carved with figures and sculptures.
Opposite the main temple, there is a ruined nandi on a pedestal adorned with an
elephant frieze executed in high relief.

NALDRUG

The fort here is said to have been built originally by a Hindu raja who was a vassal
of ihc Chalukyan kings of Kalyani. It was later included in the possession of the Bahmanis
and subsequently was taken over by the Adil Shahi kings of Bijapur. The most interest-
ing building inside the fort is the dam built across the river Bori. The dam and the Pani
Mahal ‘ Water-Pavilion ’ which is built underneath in the middle of the dam, were
designed by a Persian architect, Mir Md. Imadin, during the reign of Ibrahim Adil
Shah IL A Persian inscription on the Mahal, dated 1613 A.D., records these facts.
There is another Persian inscription of Ali Adil Shah corresponding to 1560 A.D. fixed
on a mosque which mentions the construction of the fortifications and the mosque.

OSMANABAD CITY

The group of Jaina and Brahmanical caves excavated in a low rocky ridge have
already been mentioned.

The dargah of Hazrat Shamsuddin is a Muslim shrine of the 14th century. This
dargah is much esteemed by both Hindus and Muslims. It is a square structure sur-
mounted by a lofty graceful hemispherical dome and is decorated all round with bands of
lotus petals. Over the entrance facing the south is a Persian inscription recording the
date of the death of the saint as 730 A.D. Just opposite the doorway is the grave of the
saint’s son, Tajuddin.

OWSA TOWN (AUSA)

Here, the fort is square in shape, surroxmded by a double wall and a moat all round,
and is said to have been built by the Bijapm kings. It contains a large gun; 18 feet long.

104

with the name of Nizam Shah engraved on it. Most of the old buildings are in ruins,
but an extensive underground building measures 76 by 50 feet, the roof of which forms
the bottom of a large cistern. An old mosque was built dui'ing Aurangzeb’s viceroyalty
of the Deccan, as is apparent from an inscription it bears. The Jami Masjid in the town
is built in the Bijapur style of architecture, with a dome and facade of cusped arches.

PARENDA

The fort, erected by Mahmud Gawan, the celebrated Bahmani minister, contains
several large guns mounted on bastions. Parenda was the capital of the Nizam Shahis
for a short time after the capture of Ahmadnagar by the Moghuls in 1605. It was besieg-
ed unsuccessfully by Shah Jahan’s general in 1630. It was, however, reduced by Aurang-
zeb during his viceroyalty of the Deccan. The fortifications are in good order, but the
old town is in ruins. Numerous ruins in the neighbourhood testify to the former
populousness of the place.

TER

The village, situated about three miles from the railway station of that name and
about 12 miles north-east of Osmanabad, on the Kurd wadi-Latur branch line, is believed
by some to have occupied the site of Tagara of Ptolemy. It is even now notewor^*
thy on account of the apsidal temple which it contains. The temple is an interesting
replica of the rock-cut Buddhist chaityas of western India and the Pagodas of Mamal-
lapuram as well as the basilicas of the Mediterranean zone. The building is a brick
structure consisting of an apsidal shrine covered over with a barrel-shaped ridge-like
vault and faced with a square flat-roofed mandapa. The large size of the bricks used in its
construction indicates the antiquity of the building, but a modern wooden door fitted
in the fore-wall of the mandapa, and some recent images of Vishnu in the shrine,
mark the present dedication. Tagara muslin used to be fabricated here.

There is also famous for Saint Gora Kumbhar, the potter around whom many 12th
century legends centre. He was a devotee of god Vithal. Once his wife left the
baby in his charge. In his devotion he forgot all about the baby, who unfortunately
fell into the deep receptacle for clay and was drowned. A tremendous domestic storm
arose, in which the wife not only abused the deity but actually threatened to break the
murtu When Gora approached to her to save the idol she charged him in the name
of Vithaldev himself not to touch her — this put an end to marital ties, though the two were
reconciled. In despair, the wife got him married to her sister but unfortunately his father-
in-law asked him to treat both sisters equally, so that he had to treat even the new wife
as a sister 1

One night the two sisters conspired and when the saint was asleep they took his

105

arms around them. When he awoke he was so horrified at the breaking of his oath that
he cut off his hands. According to legend his hands were miraculously restored when
he tried to raise them for clapping while attending a kirtan held by Saint Namdeo, his
contemporary.

Another legend says that on one occasion Namdeo and other devotees came on a
visit, but Saint Gora started tapping their heads with his potter’s mallet. They were
amazed as well as indignant. He then replied : “ I am only testing which head is pucca
' and which kuicha^'^ pots and pans being tested in this manner.

PARBH ANl

P

ARBHANI links up with the Stone Age. In the valleys of the Godavari and its
tributaries, the Deccan trap is overlaid by gravels and clay beds in which layers of
fossilized bones of extinct mammalia have been discovered, clearly establishing that this
area was of some importance in the Stone Age. From Stone Age down to the legendary
Rishi Agastya and onwards until the Asokan Age, Parbhani remained obscure, but
Asoka’s southern conquests brought it into the picture of greater India inasmuch as it
fringed upon the main routes to his empire in the south.

Parbhani once formed part of the Yadava kingdom of Devagiri, the modern Daulat-
abad, and was later conquered by Alauddin Khilji in the beginning of 1 4th century
A.D. After the death of Muhammad Tughlaq it fell successively in the hands of the
Bahmani and the Nizam Shahi Kings of Ahmadnagar. Incorporated into India it
remained in the Moghul empire until the Hyderabad State came into being.

The ruined fort at Parbhani is popularly believed to have been erected during the
days of Yadava kings. There are many other small forts at different places in the
district which commemorate the glory of the Yadavas. It was during the regime of
those kings that the worship of the god Siva and his bullock Nandi was the order of
the day and many a great temple all over the district still portrays the religious fervour
of those days.

The shrine of Naganath at Aundha in Hingoli taluq is a structure of great archaeo-
logical importance, and contains one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of India. It had seven
storeys up to the days of Aurangzeb. The present structure has a courtyard of 7,200
square feet and is 60 feet high. It is adorned with hundreds of exquisitely carved figures
of men, horses, elephants, bulls and monkeys. It is believed that this temple was built
by a Pandava raja at a most fabulous cost. A pucca road connects Aundha with Chondi
railway station on Purna-Hingoli line and there is direct connection by bus from Parbhani.

The Jain temple of Parasnath near Jintur is carved inside a rock with a narrow dark

108

passage leading to the domed building. There are serveral figures beautifully carved in
stone^ and the central figure is 1 2 feet high carved in a greenish stone.

An unassuming temple near Bamni standing at the confluence of the Saraswali
and the Purna recalls architectural styles of more than a thousand years ago. The shrine
of Ramazan Shah, situated on the summit of a hill near Khari in the Hingoli taluq, is
enclosed by a strong wall 30 feet high and 1,200 feet square. This saint is said to have
been converted to Islam, and his shrine is visited by both Hindus and Muslims. Besides
these, a large number of Hemadpanti temples are found throughout the district. The
district was for a long time the battlefield between the kings of Ahmadnagar and the
Imad Shahis of Berar.

Important dargahs in the district are those of Khani Alam at Basmat, of Hazrat
Shamsuddin and Hazrat Shah Mastan at Jintur and of Hazrat Shah Ismail at Kunri.

Old forts are at Anthanli, Pathri, Badgaon and Amargarh.

NAGANATH TEMPLE, AUNDHA

Aundha is a village in the Hingoli taluq of Parbhani district and can be approached
from Chondi — a station on the Purna-Hingoli railway, Aundha lying only eight miles
from there.

The temple is famous for containing one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. It is star-
shaped in plan like all Ghalukyan temples, the arrangement being — a large square
mahamandapa in the middle, three porticoes on the north, south and west and the
shrine in the east. The pillars supporting the roof of the mahamandapa are extremely
graceful, lofty, octagonal in form and most exquisitely carved. The sculptural decora-
tion of the doorways of the shrine and the porticoes is also of a superior order. The
outer face of the edifice is also gorgeously decorated in true Ghalukyan fashion by means
of horizontal and vertical bands of sculptured friezes, interpersed and relieved at
equal intervals by means of plainer bands. Dr Yazdani has rightly compared the
workmanship and detail of the temple with those of Halebid — vide Annual Report of the
Archaeological Department, Hyderabad, for the year 1917-18,

HINGOLI TOWN

Hingoli is a great cotton mart, and is famous as one of the first places in the Deccan at
which operations for the suppression of thugi were commenced about 1833.

Many prehistoric sites in various places in the taluq have yielded neolithic and
megalithic artifacts, flakes, cores, stone implements and stone objects.

R A I C H U R

R

JL ^AICHUR district has a direct link with the Stone Age, 7,000 years ago at least,
when man was yet an infant. Recent discoveries take ns back only to the neolithic period
but this is by itself evidence of previous civilizations. Who were those people and what
was their ch^ilization is unknown, but they have left us weapons, implements and bones.
It is also not known definitely ^vhether Raichur had any importance during the Vedic
and the Epic eras of Indian Histoiy, but popular tradition identifies the Kishkinda of
Ramayana as Anegundi and Vijayanagar on the opposite bank of the Tungabhadra,
both in Raichur district. A part of the army of Sri Rama on its march against Ravana
passed through tiie district.

It is not unlikely that Ikshvaku colonists gradually tiickled down through Ujjain
and Vidharba, brought civilization, to this area and named the Krishna after the hero
of Mahabharata, The name Ikshvaku occurs in the Rig Veda and the Ikshvakus were
connected with the Purus or the Pauravas (Vedic Index Vol. I P. 75). In the Puranas
the royal family of Ayodhya is represented as having descended from a king named Iksh-
vaku, and according to the Vishnu Purana, of the 100 sons of Ikshvaku 48 ruled in Dakshina
or the south. One Ikshvaku inscription at Nagarjunakonda also discloses that even
Buddha was descended from the illustrious Ikshvakus. But this protohistoric darkness
melts in the light of the Asokan edtics and discoveries of coins, figurines and other anti-
quities in the district, which establish its importance during the Buddhist period. Dur-
ing the days of Andhra supremacy it probably did not figure much, although coins of the
Satavahana period have been discovered in the district. The fort at Raichur, the Gad-
wal Samasthan and the Anegundi traditions go back to the days of the Kakatiyas of
Warangal, the Yadavas of Devagiri and the Vijayanagar empire. After the Tughlaq
conquest, it fell first to the Bahmanis and then to the Adil Shahis of Bijapur, For some
time it formed a part of the Moghul empire till Hyderabad State came into existence.

Maski in Lingsugur taluq is one of the oldest sites in the State. Here .excavations

no

have brought to light remains of the neolithic age — bones, flints, implements, — and of the
Asokan and Buddhist ages. A miniature head of Buddha in crystal which dates from
somewhere between 200 to 300 B.G. is an exquisite discovery. Coins discovered tell the
tale of the Satavahana dynasty whose last great emperor was Gautamiputra Swami Sri
Yajna Satakarni, area 186 A.D. What happened in this part of Andhradesa after the
Satavahanas is the usual history of the Saka usurpers, the Cholas, the Pallavas and their
successors, and of the two Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas and the Kalachuris. Mask! is
indeed an antiquarian’s delight.

The forts at Adhoni, Anegundi, Deodrug, Koppal, Alampur, Mudgal, Malihabad
and Raichur are of historic importance.

Deodrug was the stronghold of the poligars of the Bedar, fearless ”, tribe who were
so powerful that the first of the Nizams sought their alliance. The fort is walled on
three sides and the fourth or the western side is barred by hills.

The hill fort at Koppal is very old but its lower fortifications were rebuilt by French
engineers xmder Tipu Sultan. The fort also figured as the stronghold of Bhima Rao in
1857. The fortifications consist of tw^o forts, the upper fort is situated on the lofty and
insulated summit of a hill, about 400 feet above the ground. Sir John Malcolm described
it as the strongest place he had seen in India.

Very little is known about the Hindu origin of the fort in Adhoni, In 1347, Alauddin
Bahmani, and in 1375 Mujahid ShahBahmani, captured the fort. It was subsequently
under the Rajas of Vijayanagar, but after the battle of Talikotta in 1565 it was conquered
by the Bijapur kings.

An old Hindu temple, built in 13th century of lime and stone with sculpture on
the walls, has a black stone slab bearing an inscription in the Devanagri characters.

The fort in Malihabad is an ancient military structure of the Hindu period, which is
now in a dilapidated condition. A pair of elephants carved in red stone is placed in front
of a gateway inside the fort. It has a Kannada-Telugu inscription of the Kakatiya
rajas.

The Mudgal fort was the seat of the Yadava governors of Deogiri in 1250, It came
successively into the possession of the rajas of Warangal, the Bahmani and Bijapur Sultans,
and lastly it fell to Aurangzeb. There is a small Roman Catholic colony in the town,
whose ancestors were originally converted by one of St Xavier’s missionaries from Goa.
The church was built at an early date and contains a picture of the Madonna.

Gadwal is another historic locality whose origin is lost in antiquity. The earliest
trace is the conferment of the status of Sarnagoud over six paragnas by King Pratapa
Rudra Deva upon Bukka Polavi Reddi, the ruler of Gadwal. Gadwal has an interesting
fort, a great temple, the Garudasthamba temple and the Sri Keshava temple with the
dwajasthamba.

In Manvi besides the temples of the Ramashimha and Venkateshwara there is a
temple of Marothi which is on a hill to the west of the town. Beside this temple is a

Ill

large slab of stone having a long Kannada inscription, A similar inscription is near
a wall on the ruined fort.

ALAMPUR

The gorges of the Krishna in the Alampur taluq are of romantic interest inasmuch
as they are believed to have been the source of diamonds in medieval times. The Gorge
of Diamonds in the legend of Sindbad the Sailor and the Roc is also believed to have
been one of these gorges.

‘^Dakshina Kashi,” or Banaras of the south is how Bala-Brahmesvara or, as now
known, Alampur, is termed by tradition, and the euphonym is well-merited by the many
sacred temples on the banks of the holy Tungabhadra.

Here history and legend have consorted together with stone and sculpture from
times immemorial, and here can be seen the living footprints of the past from Stone Age
down through prehistory and protohistory to the great days of the Satavahanas, the early
and later Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, Kalachuriyas and Kakatiyas, the last of the
Andhra kings.

“The prosperous Chalukyan family of world-praised manavyasa gotra, descendants of
Hareeti, who became prosperous by the favour of Saptamatrika, who obtained a series of
auspices by the shelter of god Kumara, who susbdued all kings at the mere sight of emblem
of Varaha obtained by the grace of Almighty Narayan,” is an inscription on the ramparts
of the ruined ancient fort recalling the glory of the Chalukyas while an inscription at
Devadroni Tirtha refers to the reign of Vijayadatta Ghalukya.

It was the great grandson of Pulakesin II who had the prakara-bandh^ or rampart wail,
built to stem the waters of the Tungabhadra from flooding into the Brahmesvara Temple,
the construction being carried out by Isanacarya Swami Bhattapada. The date corres-
ponds to May 3 and 4, 714 A.D.

At one time there was the Brahmapuri University here, and two of its professors
Trilochana Muninadha Pandita and Ekanta Desikadi Pandita were honoured by kings
and queens.

“ Virabalanjya Samaya,” commercial syndicates, also honoured them in the days of
the Kalachuris and the Kakatiyas, and Veeragallulus of western Andhra period have
also been found here.

The Brahmesvara and the Papnasa groups of Temples at Alampur constitute an
important stage in the evolution of temple architecture in south India, and an affinity
to Ellora and Ajanta is noticeable.

Alampur has over a dozen inscriptions recording various gifts made by the later
Chalukyas. The Kakatiyas and the rulers of Vijayanagar seem to have made no addi-
tions to the temples of Alampur but inscriptions of their times prove that Alampur
continued to occupy an important place among the religious shrines of the south.

At Alampur the Tungabhadra takes a turn to the north and so acquires sanctity

112

and imparts holiness to the temples consecrated at this spot.

Certainly the Visvesvera, the Visalaksi, the Duntti-Ganesa and the Kala Bhairava
Temples of holy Banaras have their counterparts in the Brahmesvara, the Jogulamba^
the Duntti-Ganesa and the Kala-Bhairava shrines and Alampur well deserves to be the
Dakshina-Kashi, '' Banaras of the South.” other parallels are also not wanting, including
64 ghats in both places.

There are two main clusters of temples — the Brahmesvara, and the Papnasa, the
former inside the fort and the latter half a mile away from Alampur.

The leading temple in the Brahmesvara cluster of nine is triple-shrined with three
deities consecrated on three sides of a many-pillared hall facing the river. The nine
temples Nava-Brahma group of temples are Bala-Brahma, Garuda-Brahma, Svarga-
Brahma, Padma Brahma, Traka-Brahma, Arka-Brahma, Kumara-Brahma, Vira-
Brahma, and Visva-Brahma.

Of these Bala-Brahma is venerated most. The inner plan and decoration of these
temples bear no affinity to the Indo- Aryan temples but have a striking resemblance to the
plans and carvings of some of the rock-cut temples of western India as the projected
porches of these temples are identical in form to the portico of Gave XIX, Ajanta. The
temples have a central approach leading to the shrine in the form of a nave, with an aisle
on either side, which as in the case of the Buddhist chaityas, are separated from the former
by rows of pillars. The shrines are square with circumambulatory passage around, Tu
imitation of the rock-cut architecture, walls are closed but windows fitted with exquisite
trellis screens have been provided for ventilation. The carving of the pillars and archi-
traves are identical with those of the Buddhist and Brahmanical caves of western India,
so much so that on entering the temples one has to remind himself that he is inside a
temple and not in a rock-cut shrine.

The sikfaaras of the temples, according to Gousens, are ** of an unusual model parti-
cularly the sphere which is the frustum of a square pyramid surrounded by a large and
very compressed spheroid.”

Alampur has indeed a wealth of exquisite delights for the historian, the antiquarian,
the archaeologist and the painter, scultptor and art-lover which have to be seen to be
appreciated.

Other interesting places are the Suryanarayana the Narasimha-alaya, the Muslim
dargah and the magnificent gateways of the fort. The fort was built by Vijayanagar rajas
and subsequently conquered by Muslim kings. It has three ditches and 30 bastions,

Alampur is six miles from the metre guage railway station of the same name in
Raichur district, and can be easily reached from Hyderabad or Guntakal in Madras.

ANEGUNDI

Anegundi recalls the days of the great Vijayanagar kingdom, for just across the Tunga-

113

bhadra is Hampi, the ruined capital of the forgotten empire — an empire which has been
praised in glowing terms even in The Thousand and One Mights which gives a graphic des-
cription of the splendour of Vijayanagar.

Both Hampi and Anegundi were destroyed by the*Muslim confederacy after the great
battle of Talikotta (1565). The confederacy consisted of the kings of Ahmadnagar,
Bijapur, Bidar and Golconda. The Vijayanagar armies were led by Sedasivaraya and
his brothers, and the Vijayanagar army was 82,000 horses, 9,00,000 foot and 2,000
elephant strong. The Muslim army was comparatively smaller but the battle seems to
have been decided by the heavy artillery used by the Muslims. The battle is said to have
been joined on January 5, 1565, and the number slain computed at 1,00,000.

Rajas of Anegundi are lineal descendants of the kings of Vijayanagar. The
Vijayanagar dynasty ruled from 1336 to 1565. Anegundi means * elephant-pit ’
being the place where the elephants of the Vijayanagar kings were kept.

The ancient town of Anegundi which has also been identified by some scholars with
Kong-Kien-na-pu-le (Kunkanapura) of Hiuen Tsang is in a state of complete ruin now.
The remains of magnificent buildings of the Vijayanagar dynasty are still traceable and
there are fine specimens in the pillars of the Oncha Appa-Matha and the screens and
scupture of the Ganesa temple. The pillars are of jet black basalt and are deeply carved.
The sculptures appear in relief on the surface of the pillars and are similar in design and
workmanship to the pillars in the Huvina Hadgatta temple in the Bellary district.

The ceiling of the Oncha Appa Matha has also some paintings which consists of
devices still in vogue in Rajputana and northern India, In one panel there is a figure of
Siva with a long beard riding on five female acrobats who have joined themselves in the
form of an elephant.

In another panel the same deity is riding on a group of five women who have united
themselves together in the form of a horse. There is also ^palki formed of women in the
same style. The outlines of the figures are weak and the colours are insipid. They
probably belong to the 17th century.

GABBUR

At Gabbur the temples of Bhangar Basappa, the Vishvesvara temple, the Ishwar temple
(Gannigudi Mutt), the Venkateshwara temple, the Ghandi Gate temple, the Hanuman
temple, the temple near Jami Masjid and Male Sankara^'s temple are worth seeing.
Gabbur is in Deodrug taluq.

ITTAGI

Ittagi is a small village in Raichur district some three miles to the south of Benni-
koppa railway station between Koppal and Gadag. The Mahadeva temple situated

114

in this village is one of the finest Ghaliikyan temples and fully justifies the title
‘ emperor among temples ’ (devalaya chakravarti) given to it by the founder.

The plan of the temple comprises a shrine with an ante-chamber^ a closed hall with
porches on either side of it towards the north and south, and a pillared hall which is open
at the sides. The temple faces east, and the great open hall at this end was originally
supported upon sixty-eight pillars.

The slabs of the ceiling of the middle apartment of the hall have been carved into a
rich arrangement of hanging arabesque foliage and makaras which spring from the jaws
of a kintimukha mask. The convolutions of the design with their circling excrescences
and bwildering whorls form a most luxuriant pattern.

Beautiful wreaths of filigree are repeated as ornament in the recessed panels of the
walls below and in two places, one on either side of the shrine, serve as window-frames, the
spaces between the rolls forming the lights. The three principal niches on the shrine walls,
boldly accentuated by their deep projecting cornices, are now empty, their images having
disappeared.

The beautiful inscription in flowing Kannada verse set up in a hall adjacent to the
temple states that this temple was built in A.D. 1112 by Mahadeva, a general (Dandana-
yaka) of the Western Chalukya king, Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI of Kalyani.

This temple is almost unrivalled in this part of the country both in the magnificence
of its architectural style and its luxuriant decorative detail.

KALLUR

There are some old 13th century temples in the village and a Hanuman temple outside
wherein are two beautiful old pieces of sculpture one representing Ganesa and the other
Saptamatrika (Seven Mothers).

There is another temple called Mukandcshwara situated to the west of the village.
It seems to be the oldest shrine in the village; its pillars having some good carvings. The
bases of the pillars are covered with bas-relief representing floral designs, animal figures
and droll subjects. The superstructure of the temple excepting the sikhara seems to
have been built in Bahmani or Adil Shahi period as is obvious from the turrets, the
friezes and other Muslim motifs.

To the north of Mukandeshwar temple, at a distance of about a furlong and a half,
is a small temple in which an image of Kali, locally known as Karamma, has been enshrin-
ed. The fourth shrine is not in use. The fifth temple is called Pelommal Gudi. The
sixth temple is known as Venkateshwargudi. There are three inscriptions in the village.
One of the records has been fixed opposite Karamma’s temple. The other inscription is
carved on a piece of sculpture representing an elephant and the last inscription is close to
the well.

KUSHTAGI

There are Hindu tcmpl^ at Bergi, Haxnsasagar, Holigiri, Para, Paratgiri, Kushtagi,

115

Rampur, Santgadh and Vajarbanda. There is also a mosque at Kushtagi.

LINGSUGUR

In this taluq there is an old 8th century fortress on a rock, situated between the two
tributaries of Krishna at Jaldrug. From an inscription in the fort, it appears that the
fort was built by one of the Yadava rajas of Devagiri (Daulatabad) about the close of
the 12th century.

There are numerous prehistoric sites in this taluq, while at Honhalli and Wendalli
ruins of ancient smelting factories have been found. Wendalli is well-known for its gold
working,

MASKI

The archseological importance of Maski has already been mentioned, but it has also a
link with the Asokan age.

In the neighbourhood of the town under a canopied boulder is carved an Asokan
edict in Brahmi Script, The importance of this inscription lies predominantly in its
mention of the fact that Asoka was the author of the edict,

Maski (“ Masangi” or “ Suvarnagiri,” town of gold) is 17 miles from Lingsugur
in Raichur district.

MUDGAL

Mudgal fort has already been mentioned but Mudgal is also famous in history as the home
of Parthal, the Helen of the South, for whom two mighty kingdoms went to war — the
Bahmani and the Vijayanagar kingdoms. The Cambridge History of India gives the event
as below,

'Tn 1406 Harihara II died, and was succeeded by his son, Bukka II, and in the same
year occurred the romantic episode of the goldsmith’s daughter of Mudgal, a strange
occurrence, but reasonably well attested-

‘*A poor goldsmith and his wife, living near Mudgal, are said to have had a daughter
named Parthal, of such surpassing beauty and brilliant accomplishments that her fame
spread far and wide, and was carried by a Brahman who had been her instructor to the
court of Bukka, who sent messengers to demand her of her parents. They, regarding the
proposal as an honour, were disposed to comply, but the girl declined it. Bukka crossed
the Tungabhadra with 5,000 horse, and sent a party to Mudgal to abduct the girl, but
news of the raid had preceded it, and by the time that the party reached Mudgal, Parthal
and her parents had fled. Meanwhile, Feroz the Bahmani king learnt of Bukka's raid,
promptly went to war and defeated the invaders.

After his return to Ferozabad the king sent to Mudgal for the beautiful Parthal
and her parents. The girl was given in iparriage to Hasan Khan, his son, and the parents

116

received gifts in money and grant of their native village. It was probably on this occasion
that the goldsmiths of the Deccan were permitted once more to follow their ancestral
calling as bankers and money-changers, from w^hich they had been debarred by the edict
of Muhammad I.”

RAICHUR

The Raichur Fort, according to an inscription on a huge stone (42 ft, by 3 ft.) was
built by Gore Gangaya Ruddivaru, a minister of the raja of Warangal, in 1294, The
country round Raichur was the battle-ground of the ancient Hindu and Jain dynasties as
well as of the Muslim and Hindu kingdoms of Gulbarga and Vijayanagar. After the
decline of the Bahmani power towards the close of the fifteenth century, it formed
part of the Bijapur kingdom.

Upon the subjugation of Bijapur and Golconda by Aurangzeb, Raichur was garri-
soned by the Moghuls. A short distance from the west gate of the fort are the remains
of a strongly built palace. The fortifications form a square of large stones 12 feet long
by three feet thick, laid on one another without any cementing material. They consist
of two walls, inner and an outer, and are surrounded on three sides by a deep ditch,
while on the fourth or southern side there is a hill. The outer fortifications and the
gateways were constructed by Ibrahim Adil Shah about 1549. The inner fort has two
gateways and the outer three. The fort contains an old gun over 20 feet long. The
Jami Masjid in the town was built in 1618.

The Ek-Minar Masjid, according to a Persian inscription on its threshold, was cons-
tructed by Ambar in 919 A.H. in the reign of Mahmud Shah Bahmani. The architec-
tural characteristic of this mosque is that as its name itself signifies it has only one minaret
which is about 65 feet high standing just above the entrance in the south-east corner
of the courtyard of the mosque and was probably intended to serve as an azan tower ’’’
like the Qutb Minar at Delhi. It consists of two storeys and gradually tapers upwards
ending in a rounded dome of Bahmani style.

Some distance from the Ek-Minar Mosque is Yatim Shah’s mosque, adjoining which
is the Kati Darwaza. The other notable gateways are the Maccai Darwaza, Naurangi
Darwaza and Khandaq Darwaza. The Naurangi Darwaza appears to be a Hindu
structure and one of the bastions bears a w^ell-carved figure of a Naga king with a crown
of five-headed serpent.

WARANGAL

G

RE AT lakes, historic monuments, temples and forts make Warangal an interesting
district for the pilgrim, the historian, the archaeologist and the nature lover. Warangal
itself is not very ancient, but Hanamkonda and legends surrounding it seem to link the
area up with the great Vishnukundins, and other previous dynasties of the Buddhist and
pre-Buddhist periods of Indian history. The district originally formed a portion of the
ancient kingdom of the Andhras who had subdued the whole of the Deccan.

THE KAKATIYAS

The Kakatiyas started as the generals and commanders of the Ghalukyas of Kalyani, and
won the favour of their masters so well that Somesvara I granted the district {visaya) of
Hanamkonda (Anamkonda) to Prola I, son of Beta I, Prola I’s son. Beta II, continued
as a subordinate of the Ghalukyas but his son, Prola II, declared independence after the
death of Vikramaditya VI and founded the Kakatiya dynasty.

His son Rudradeva was an equally capable warrior, and these two rulers were res-
ponsible for conquering the greater part of Telingana. The coastal region lying towards
the east of Telingana was then under the Velanandu rulers who were the feudatories of the
Chalukya-Gholas. Rudradeva led several campaigns into this region but it finally came
under Kakatiya rule only in the reign of Rudradeva’s brother’s son, Ganapati, who
ascended the throne in A.D, 1199.

Ganapati was the most powerful ruler of this dynasty, and his kingdom extended
from Gondwana in Madhya Pradesh to Kanchi near Madras, and from the Bay of Bengal
in the east to Bidar and Hyderabad in the west. His capital was Orugallu or Ekasila-
nagara, modern Warangal, which he fortified. His extensive kingdom naturally brought
him into conflict with the neighbouring kingdoms of the Hoysalas and the Pandyas. It
was during this period that the famous Telugu poet Tikkana adorned the court of Mariu-

118

masiddhi, the Telugu-Chola ruler of Nellore and a feudatory of Ganapati.

After Ganapati’s long rule of 62 years, came his daughter Rudrama Devi (A.D. 1260-
1296) in whose reign the Venetian traveller Marco Polo arrived at the famous Andhra
harbour of Motupalli on the eastern coast and visited the Andhradesa.

In his account of travels Marco Polo records that Andhra was famous for its diamonds
and superfine cloth woven with yam finer than gossamer.

Rudrama Devi was no effiminate ruler. She dressed like a man, rode on elephant
and horse and was actually addressed as Rudradeva Maharaj as if she was a man. The
Yadavas of Devagiri wished to take advantage of a woman on the throne and led an in-
vasion, but she put up an able defence and repulsed the invaders.

Pratap Rudra (A.D. 1296-1323) who succeeded Rudrama Devi was her daughter’s
son, and is renowned in Sanskrit literature as Vira Rudra. He wrested Kanchi from the
Pandyas and drove them beyond Tiruchirrapalli. But he had to encounter several in-
vasions of the Sultans of Delhi who were bent on reducing the Kakatiya kingdom to
subordination. For over twenty years, from A.D. 1303, Pratap Rudra maintained his
kingdom intact and according to Hindu accounts successfully resisted the Muslim invaders
on six successive occasions failing only on the seventh and last occasion in A.D. 1323.

The Kakatiya kingdom was finally overcome in A.D. 1323 by prince Ulugh Khan
who later ascended the Delhi throne, in A.D. 1325, as Muhammad Tughlaq. Ulugh
Khan took Pratap Rudra prisoner, and after taking over the administration of the king-
dom and appointing necessary officers, he returned to Delhi. While being led as a
prisoner to Delhi, Pratap Rudra committed suicide on the banks of the Narmada, unable
to bear the bitterness of humiliation and defeat.

Originally followers of Jainism, the Kakatiya rulers patronized Saivism from the time
of Prola II. The Pasupata sect of Saivism in particular gained in strength and numbers
at this time. Most of these religious leaders were renowned scholars and monasteries were
centres of learning, and hospitals as well. Great expansion of commerce, especially sea-
borne trade, was responsible for the increase in the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom
during this period. The numerous temples constructed by the Kakatiya kings and their
feudatories contributed to the progress of architecture and sculpture. ^

Learning and literature in Sanskrit and Telugu advanced to a high degree of achieve-
ment, as testified to by numerous scholars and authors of repute. A certain Virabhallata-
desika is renowned for his encyclopaedic learning {sarva-sastra’-msarada) and Agastya,
another great writer and author of Balabharata and Jsfalakirii Kaumudi in Sanskrit, is often
identified with Vidyanatha the author of the famous work on Alankara Sastra called Pratapa^
hidra Tasobhusana. Jayapa, the commander of the elephant corps of Ganapati, is the author
of Nrttaratnavali and even the renowned Sanskrit poet Sakalyamalla is generally assigned
to this period. In Telugu there is the excellent popular work R^an^cmatha JRarmyammu by
Gona Buddha Reddi and the equally famous Basava Puranamu and PavMtaradhya Charitamu
by P^uriki Somanatha, all in easy flooring dvipada meter. Bhaskara-Ramayanamu is

119

another excellent product of this time. Pratap Rudra himself is reputed to have composed
a work in Telugu called Nitisara but unfortunately no copy of this work is now available.

With the disappearance of the Muslim power, about A.D. 1335-36, zAndhra split up
into a number of petty kingdoms, the earliest of which was the coastal kingdom of eastern
and north-eastern Andhra under Prolaya Nayaka with his capital near Kunavaram on the
Godavari, not far from modern Bhadrachalam. The next was the kingdom of Telingana
with headquarters at Warangal recovered from the Muslims by the able warrior Kapaya
Nayaka w^ho was cousin (son of father’s brother) of Prolaya Nayaka. When Prolaya
Nayaka died without issue his kingdom was united with that of Kapaya Nayaka. The
second was the kingdom of the Reddis founded by Prolaya Verna Reddi with its capital
first at Addanki and later at Kondavidu in Guntur district. The third was the kingdom
of the Padma-Velamas founded by Recherla Singamanaya with its capital at Rajukonda.
The fourth was the kingdom of Vijayanagar founded by Harihara and Bukka under the
wise guidence and patronage of the great sage Vidyaranya.

In 1422, Warangal was finally captured by the Bahmani troops, and on the break-
up of that kingdom it fell to the Qutb Shahis of Golconda. Shitab Khan became the
Qutb Shahi governor of Warangal. He slowly succeeded in carving out for liim a
separate principality comprising of Khammamet, Nalgonda and Warangal and became
independent.

As lovers of art and literature the Kakatiya kings made a name in history. The
best specimens of architecture of their age are the 1000-Pillar Temple at Hanam-
konda, the temple at Palampet popularly known as Ramappa temple and the Warangal
fort. Of the best irrigation works which have stood the test of time are the Pakhal,
Ramappa and Laknavaram lakes.

The name Warangal is a corrupt form of the word “ Orukal ” or “ Orugallu
which means 'one stone*. According to some inscriptions in Sanskrit this town was also
called Ekopala, Ekasila, Ekopalapuri or puram all of which refer to the solitary cliff in
the centre of the magnificent fort built here by the kings of Kakatiya dynasty and used as
their capital.

Warangal or Varankal is also believed to be the Korun Kula of Ptolemy, while
another name is Akshalingar, evidently the Yeksilanagar or Yeksilapatan mentioned by
Raghunath Bhaskar in his Aravachan Kosh.

The city was surrounded by two walls ; the outer one, which is of mud, is said to
have been 25 miles in circumference. Traces of it are still extant, and the railway
cuts through it in two places. The inner wall of stone is pierced by four arches and the
gateways are remarkable for their strength. Both walls date from the 13th century.

For hundreds of years, both Hanamkonda and Warangal have been renowned for
their industrial importance, and Marco Polo wrote of Warangal, " in the kingdom are
made the best and most delicate buckrams (cotton stuff ) and those of highest price; in
sooth they look like tissue of spider’s web. There is no king or queen in the world but

120

might be glad to wear them/*

THOUSAND-PILLAR TEMPLE

The temple of Hanamkonda, one of the suburbs of Warangal, is considered to be
one of the finests specimens of the architecture and sculpture of the Kakatiya period.

Founded by Ganapati the temple is mentioned in Pratap Charitra and, like all
earlier Ghalukyan temples, it is star-shaped and triple-shrined, the three shrines being
dedicated to Siva, Vishnu and Surya respectively.

The shrines have no deities, the pedestals inside being fitted with black basalt lingams.
But the perforated and ornamented stone screens on the respective doors of the shrines
contain the effigies of the three gods.

The most notable features of this temple are the richly carved pillars and lintels,
the delicately pierced screens and the most carefully finished sculptures. The black
basalt Nandi or the sacred bull, in front of the temple, is a splendid specimen of sculp-
ture in monolith.

A large black basalt slab, fixed near the eastern entrance and inscribed with Kan-
nada-Telugu characters, records the events and the date, 1164 A.D., of the construction
of the temple.

This record is extremely important inasmuch as it gives a geneological table of the
builder of the temple, King Ganapati, and contemporaneous events,

WARANGAL FORT

King Ganapati began the construction of this fort in 1199 and Rudrama Devi
completed it in 1261 A.D. A large temple in the centre of the fort which was presum-
ably under construction, has been recently excavated. The boundary of the original
temple was marked by four large elaborately carved gateways facing the four cardinal
points. They bear a striking similarity to the famous gateways of Sanchi, and are very
imposing to look at.

The fort has two walls, the inner one being of stone and the outer of mud, surrounded
by a moat nearly 72 feet wide and 56 feet deep. Traces of a third earthen wall are visible
near the \dllages of Thimmapur and Narasimalingudem, six miles south of Hanam-
konda. According to a chronologist this wall had a circumference of thirty miles, the
largest of its kind in India, Other notable structures inside the fort are numerous
minor temples, the Durbar Hall of Shitab Khan and store houses.

The fort has a vast army of minor antiquities, such as images, carvings, inscription
slabs, etc. They can be seen in the Durbar Hall of Shitab Khan.

Excavations in the area within the four decorated gateways, the heart of the fort,
have revealed basements and remains of a Kakatiya temple as well as other antiquities

m

of considerable archasological and artistic significance.

There are a number of temples, dedicated to Narasimhaswami, Padmakshi, and
Govindarajuluswamij which are of great sanctity. The last named temple is perched
on a hillock near the Warangal railway station, commanding a grand panorama of the
entire city and its surroundings. Very beautiful and artistic is the modern Siva temple
with idols in pure white marble and walls inlaid with coloured porcelain. Other excava-
tions have revealed prehistoric sites in many places.

At Adoni in Warangal there is a temple of the Kakatiya period dating from 12th-
13th century. It has a double compound wall which is extremely massive and represents
the typical Kakatiya style. The outer wall has three entrances .which are fashioned
like the gateways that stand in the heart of Warangal fort. There are also two Kakatiya
inscriptions, one of which is seven feet long and set up on a covered platform while the
other is located on the tank bund.

RAMAPPA TEMPLE

Forty miles from Warangal, in Mulug taluq, is Palampet and here on the shores of
the famous Ramappa lake are the remains of temples, described as the brightest stars in
the galaxy of medieval temples of the Deccan.

The main temple, which is surrounded by an old enclosure wall composed of large
stone slabs, has subsidiary shrines on its northern and southern ends. The Temple is
similar in style and workmanship to its great prototype, the Thousand- Pillar Temple,
but it is more ornamental. The sikhara of the temple is constructed of large light bricks
which can float on water.

The pillars and ceilings are full of ornamentation, and scenes from the Ramayam and
the Mahabharata are sculptured everywhere. Long panels of figures of gods, goddesses,
warriors, acrobates, musicians and dancing girls in different poses decorate the outer
walls while female figures in extremely graceful poses, almost life-like and made of highly
polished black basalt stone, are arranged in pairs in the form of brackets. They represent
the Takshisy female spirits, in technical dance poses serving as guards of the doors.

According to an old Kannada-Telugu inscription fixed inside the enclosure, the
temple was constructed in 1204 A.D-

THE TWO SISTERS

The Ramappa lake is the most magnificent example of old irrigation works construct-
ed by the kings of Kakatiya dynasty. A reference to this tank is made in an inscription
at Palampet according to which this lake was constructed in 1213 A.D. when the Kakatiya
king, Ganapati, was ruling. It has a catchment area of about 82 square miles and four
main distributary channels. It is capable of irrigating about 9,000 acres.

The Laknavaram lake is 13 miles from Mulug and regarded as a sister to Ramappa

122

lake being named after Sri Lakshmana the brother of Sri Rama. This lake also dates
from the same period and was created by shutting up three narrow valleys with short
bunds. It has a catchment area of 75 square miles and three main distributaries irrigat-
ing about 13,000 acres.

THE GREAT PAKHAL

The Pakhal lake is situated in Pakhal taluq, about 32 miles east of Warangal town.
It was constructed about 700 years ago. It is said that when Pratap Rudra failed to
pay tribute to the Emperor of Delhi, Shitab Khan, the commander of the emperor’s
forces, breached the tank and carried away the hidden treasures from the tank bed. The
lake is formed by a 2,000-yard dam across the river Pakhal at a place where it cuts its way
through two low hills.

An inscription of the Kakatiya king Ganapati on the bund in Kannada-Telugu
praises him as one “ who received homage of Kings of Kase, Kalingas, the Sakas, the
Malwas, Koralas, the Hunas, the Kauras, Arimardas, Mogadhas, Nepalas, etc.”

HASANPARTl

Here is a temple of Venkateswara Swamy and a religious Jatra is held annually in
which large numbers participate.

KAZIPET

The name Kazipet is derived from a domed tomb built by a kazi of this district in
the early part of the 19th century. Near it are some picturesque rocks, on one of which
are two hom-like boulders which are visible from the railway train. Three ancient
temples, situated on the summit of these rocks, contain some interesting specimens of
early Hindu carving.

An annual Urs called “ Dargah Urs ” takes place near Kazipet. There are some old
temples situated on an isolated, rock at Muddikonda, about a mile to the south of Kazipet
station. One temple is dedicated to Siva and the other to Vishnu. Both are in the
Dravidian style of architecture with pyramidal sikharas or spires. In the village near the
rock there are some smaller temples of which the finest is used by Saivites.

KHAMMAMET

At Karkonda there are Buddhist and Andhra sites dating from the first to the third
centuries A.D. In the Karkonda hill there are rock carvings, while remains of two
dagobas and t\^'^o cells carved out of sandstone rocks represent the Mahayana cult. The
walls are sculptured.

At Khammam the 11 th century Hindu fort, is a conspicuous landraark. Built

123

900 years ago it was further fortified by French engineers. The fort also contains several
guns of a much later period. There are also prehistoric sites in various places in the
taluq.

MULUG

Ghanpur in this taluq has a group of 22 temples which are replicas of the famous
Ramappa temple. The 22 form a square enclosure in the centre of which stands the
main temple which has porticoes on the east, north and south, while the western side has
a cell with the broken efHgy of a linga. The mahamandapa is destroyed, but eight human
and animal brackets similar in style and form to the Ramappa brackets, however, survive.
These temples are in fact contemporaneous with the Ramappa temple.

KATAGHPUR

On the southern bank of the Katachpur tank are two 13th century Kakatiya temples
built of grey granite. These two are also similar to the temples at Hanamkonda, Ramappa
and Ghanpur in style and workmanship.

WARADHANNAPET

Here an old 18th century fort is believed to have been built by Zafaruddaula. It has
double walls and some bastions having gun emplacements.

BHADRACHALAM

Bhadrachalam is a small village on the northern bank of the Godavari. Bhadra
was the name of a rishi who was believed to have met Sri Rama at this place, and the
village was named Bhadrachalam after the rishi. According to a local legend Sri Rama
was separated from his wife at this place, and it is believed that the temple at Bhadra-
chalam was built on the very spot where Sri Rama had built a hut for himself. The site
is the Achala Hill on top of which stands the temple. It is also believed that he crossed
the Godavari from somewhere at the foot of the hill on his celebrated expedition to
Ceylon.

The temple today is more famous for yet another reason. It was built at a cost of
six lakhs of rupees by Ram Dass or Gopanna, to call him by the name he bore before his
spiritual enlightenment, who was the nephew of Akkanna, the Prime Minister of King
Abul Hasan Tana Shah (1654-1687), the last of the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda.
The story runs that wlule he was the Tahsildar of the tahsil which included Bhadrachalam
then, Gopanna misappropriated six lakhs of rupees of the revenue and spent them in
building this temple. When the matter came to the king’s ears he commanded that

124

Ram Dass should be arrested and brought on foot to Golconda. Accordingly he was
marched to Golconda and was incarcerated in a dungeon in the fort of Golconda, which i'<
even now pointed out to visitors as Ram Oass’s prison. It is said that Ram Dass grew tired
of life in prison and wanted to put an end to himself. Sri Rama appeared to him in a
dream and gave him a clean receipt for the money he had spent in building the temple.
Tana Shah himself then visited Ram Dass, confirmed the receipt of the money paid to
him by some unknown person and set Ram Dass at liberty.

Every year on Sri Rama Navami, the birth anniversary of Rama, thousands of
pilgrims from all parts of India congregate and attend the principal function of the day,
namely Kalyanam (marriage of Rama and Sita). On this day small idols of Rama and
Sita are bathed in sacred waters of the Godavari and decked with resplendent jewellery.
They are placed in a small gaudily decorated silver palanquin and carried in procession
amidst scenes of devotion and great enthusiasm to a huge mandapam, close by, capable
of accommodating thousands of pilgrims. Amidst the assembled congregation and in the
presence of high officials of the Hyderabad State, the marriage ceremony is celebrated with
due rites and great eclat to the chanting of Vedic hymns and the applause of the specta-
tors. Then the pilgrims fulfil their ^ Vows for favours received or solicited. This
concludes the principal attraction of the Jatra which lasts for nearly a fortnight.

There is yet another important day, the Mukkoti Ekadasi, when pilgrims from all
parts of India congi'egate in thousands to see the gods taken out in procession early in
the morning. This festival lasts for about 10 days.

Tana Shah, the last king of Golconda, had endowed the temple with a substantial
annual grant. The temple is now” also getting a grant from Government.

Bhadrachalam can be reached by road as well as rail from Warangal. From the
Bhadrachalam Road station, which is the terminus of the branch line connecting the
Singareni Collieries with the main broad guage system, regular Road Transport Depart-
ment buses run upto Burgampad, which is the last town in the State on the Madras
border. The town is a short distance from the Godavari, which forms the boundary"
between Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh, and across is Bhadrachalam. The road from
Warangal to Bhadrachalam is excellent.

Page 9, first line, read consisting of^

Page 1 6, sixth para, second line,
read Sri Rama for Shri Rama.

Page 3a, fourth para, first line,
omit comma after posterity .

Page

49 .

last line, omit II after

Rudra.

Page

56, i

hird para, third line, read
said for set.

Page

5S.

last line but one, read
n^ill for Tf^ilt.

Page

68,

second line, omit comma
after ISdoore.

Page

69,

first para, first line, omit
has after and.

Page

85,

fifth para, omit comma
after Patancheru.

TITLE & JACKET PRINTED AT
THE MODERN PRINTING HOUSE, HYD.DN.

6

later period.

MANIKGADH

The strong fortress of Manikgadh, nearly 1,700 feet high, and situated in inaccessible
territory, was held by the Gond Rajas of Chanda whose sway extended in the north to
Nagpur and in the south nearly upto the Godavari. They maintained their indepen-
dence till the end of the 16th century when they began to give nominal allegiance to the
Aloghuls, and then to the Marathas, to whom they finally succumbed in 1751 and lost the
kingdom of Chanda.

Tradition asserts that the Gond rulers began their rule in the 9th century, though
this seems to have been based mainly on hearsay. Sirpur was their capital until the
Rajas transferred it to Chanda in the 16th century.

Today the Gonds are one of the principal tribes of Central India and retain to the
full their tribal customs, traditions and manners. Every year Gonds . and other tribes
gather in their thousands at the annual fair at Keslapur, a sylvan village.

NIRMAL

In southern Adilabad, the town of Nirmal, is of historic interest. It seems to have
been held originally by the Velmas until it was taken in the latter part of the 18th
century by Mirza Ibrahim Baig Zafruddaula, also known as Dhaunsa, a general of the
Second Nizam. This nobleman reconstructed the present fortress of Nirmal, the architects
being Frenchmen in the Nizam’s service. The Saradmahal, which is, now used, as a
travellers bungalow, is on the site of the old buildings constructed by this chieftain.
After his death his sons rebelled against the Nizam, who had to march , upon Nirmal
and reduce the fort. The estate was then confiscated and Nirmal became a part of the
State. .

Other places worth seeing in Nirmal are the Mahadeo temple and i.ts sculptures,
the 17th century Jami Masjid, and Ibrahimbagh with its gardens and fountains.

Today Nirmal is the home of a fine wood, lacquer ai^^d toy industry which has become
known even outside India, and a visit to pn& of these cottage industry faqtories, .is im-
tructive.

AURANGABAD

M

^ » -^ORE people have heard of Ajanta and Ellora than of Aurangabad. But the story
of this historic district on the Bombay border is almost as interesting as these famous mas-
terpieces in art and architecture.

The earliest trace of human habitation in this district was discovered in the shape of a
paleolithic artifact at Moongi on the left bank of the Godavari. Antiquities of the Stone
Age, have been discovered at several places in the district but the regular history begins
area 300 B.C., that is, at the beginning of the early Andhra period. Since then man’s
genius has continuously exerted itself in fathoming the deepest recesses of the human soul.
These sublime efforts have manifested themselves in monuments at various places, which
are permeated with a spiritual glow.

The Pandavas during their exile are said to have wandered into the Aurangabad
district, and also to have constructed the massive hill fortification of Deogarh (Deogiri,
Devagiri),

The Surpanath hill near Kannad in the district is pointed out as having been the
residence of Surpanakha whose ears and nose were cut off by Sri Lakshmana.

The expedition of Alexandar made the Greeks acquainted with India and soon they
also found the sea route. In those days the Dakshinapatha (Deccan) was under great
vassals (Mahamandalesvaras), and hereditary land-holders (Poligars), who owed alle-
giance to the overlords of Tagara and Plithana (Paithan),

Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent Dionysius into the southern parts of India
about B.C. 268, and it was then that Tagara became known to the Greeks. It is abo
mentioned by Arrian that on the arrival of the Greeks in the Deccan ** Tagara was the
metropolis of a large district called Ariaca, and that Tagara and Plithana were the princi-
pal marts in Dachanabades.” All kinds of merchandise from throughout the Deccan were
brought to Tagara and thence conveyed on carts to Barygaza, now Broach. Ptolemy
agrees with Arrian in placing^ Tagar-a and Plithana to the north of Godavari, but the

6

position of Tagara has not been quite identified, although attempts have been made to
fix it near Daulaiabad (Deogarh), Bhir, Junagar and Gulbarga.

Plithana is evidently Paithan, as it was about twenty days journey from, or 230 miles
south of Broach; and if Ptolemy’s latitude and longitude be correct, Tagara should be
87 miles north-east of Paithan, or near Maiker in Berar.

The more general statements of Arrian and Ptolemy, however, place Tagara ten
days’ journey east of Paithan, which would bring it near Nanded on the Godavari. The
remark in the Periplus that coarse dangaris, and very much fine linen, and muslins of sorts,
and mallow coloured stuffs, and other merchandise were taken to Tagara from ‘‘ parts
along the coast,” would seem to show that Tagara was also in connection with the Bay of
Bengal ; and it is known that even as early as the time of Sakya Muni, Kalinga on the east
coast was noted for the manufacture of fine muslins.

On the silver screen of Deccan history then flashed the Greeks (Yavanas), Scythians
(Sakas), and Parthians (Sahs), and the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kalachuriyas and
Yadavas, till we reach 1295 A.D. when Muslims first arrived in the Deccan — ^Aurangabad
district being almost the very first to feel their presence.

Ramadeva (Ramachandra) was the last of the independent. Yadavas (1271-1310
A.D.), but his Minister, Hemadpanth, is now more well-known than the king himself.

Hemadpanth, or Hemadri, was not only the author of many books on Hindu law
and other subjects, but also the originator of the Hemadpanthi style of temple architecture,
as typified by numerous Hemadpanthi temples in the State today.

Alauddin Khiiji was the first to invade, defeating Ramadeva in 1295 A.D. when
the Yadavas became vassals of the Khiljis. Shankara, the last of his line, rebelled and
was put to death in 1310.

The romance of Deval Devi and Khizr Khan, which is the subject of Ashiqa of Amir
Khusro, occurred during this period and it was also during this period that Deogiri came
under the sway of the Khiljis, though the fort changed hands several times till 1318 when
it finally became an Imperial stronghold — Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah, Alauddin’s
successor, himself entering the fort. In Nuh Sipahr, Amir Khusro relates some of the
incidents of this conquest.

Aurangabad district was also the scene of the exploits of the famous slave Kafur
Hazardinari, Alauddin’s favourite who rose to be the Malik Naib of the Khiiji Empire
and the main power behind the throne. He was murdered in Delhi only 35 days after
Alauddin’s death.

The district of Aurangabad twice had the privilege of becoming the seat of a united
India. The first attempt was made by Muhammad Tughlaq during the first half of
the 1 4th century, while Aurangzeb spent his last 25 years in the Deccan with Aurangabad
more or less as the headquarters of his government.

Aurangabad has been the home of Maratha saints and litterateurs, who initiated
great spiritual and literary movements. Notable authors whose works to this day illu-
minate tfte pages of Indian literature arc many. Among the. very first was Salivahana

whose Kosha was a dictionary consisting 4,00,000 kathas, or Prakrit verses, in compiling
which he had the assistance of no less than six authors. Among Salivahana^s
other works are Salivahana Saptasati^ Salihoira and Gajachikitsa,

Paithan was once a seat of Sanskrit learning. Here also lived for a time the famous
Maratha saint Gnaneshwar, torch-bearer of a great religious message, who attacked
the snobbery of Sanskrit pundits and wrote a commentary on Srimad Bhagwad Gita^
which has become a masterpiece of Marathi literature. By carrying to the common
man religious literature that was until then locked up in classic Sanskrit, he created a
revolution.

Another Maratha saint was Eknath. He was the first Maratha social reformer to
launch an open attack on untouchability. Eknath’s grandson, Mukteshwar, was also
a great Marathi poet.

In the latter days, Sri Ramdas Swami (1608-1681 A.D.) also travelled in the
district. He was the spiritual guru of Shivaji, and in Saka 1571 (A.D. 1649) Shivaji
Chatrapati became his disciple. During his life-time, Sri Ramdas Swami was consi-
dered an incarnation of Maruti or Hanuman. He was also a Prakrit writer and his Das
Bodhy Sphui Abhan^, the Sesmas Atmaram and Manachei Slok are well-known. Similarly,
Amrit Rao (1698-1753) is noted for his katav style of writing which consists of padas of
60 syllables each. Among his well-known books are Draupadi Vastraharan^ Jivadasa^
Durvasa Tatra, Ramchandra Varnan, Ganapati Varnan, and a novel Druvackarita.

Among the Muslim writers \vere Kazi Shahabuddin Zawali, who was called king
of sages by his contemporaries, Shahnawaz Khan Samsamuddaula (1669-1751), the
author oi Mc^atfar-uUUmara, and Gulam Ali Khan Azad (born 1704).

Aurangabad is, and has always been, famous for its attractive textiles, like Jamiwar,
Mashru and Kamkhab, well-known to connoisseurs since 1 7th century.

AJANTA AND ELLORA

No visitor should leave India without seeing the rock-cut temples of Ajanta and
Ellora. If he is a lover of the beautiful, the visit will seem to him a pilgrimage, for few
other sites of past glory enshrine a nobler monument of man’s artistic achievement.

Ajantais'65milesnorthof Aurangabad city, while Ellora is 18 miles from the city.
There are excellent facilities for staying in Aurangabad and visiting the two places* Both
places are too well-known to need any description and the following is only meant as
hors d'mvre.

Though cave-architecture is to be found in various other localities of Hyderabad
State and in other parts of India, yet nowhere such an admirable combination of archi-
tecture, sculpture and murals is to he seen in such great abundance and excellence
-as at Ajanta.

In a beautiful glade circling the Waghara. amidst superb scenery are the caves of
Ajanta consisting of twenty-four monasteries and five temples^ some of wWch.arc 2,000

10

years old. The crescent-shaped rock which overlooks it seems to have attracted the
fancy of Buddhist monks who selected this site for their cloister^ some three centuries after
Gautama the Buddha (563 B,G. — B.C.) had founded their order. For about a
thousand years, their pious hands chipped with chisel and mallet the living rock, fashioning
lofty and spacious shrines and monasteries.

It is noteworthy that the Buddhist rock-hewn monasteries were principally excavated
along the trade routes, where, like the Christian monasteries of the Middle Ages, they
ministered to the needs of travellers. In former times Ajanta lay on one of the main
routes from the north to the kingdom of the south and was known as the “ Gateway of
the Deccan.’*

This rock-hewn architecture consists mainly of two parts : chaityas or chapels and
liharas or monasteries. There are twenty-nine of them including five chaityas^ the largest
chamber hardly less spacious than the auditorium of a modern theatre. Most of these are
so constructed that a flood of natural light pours into them at some time of the day. Both
the facade and the inside of these chambers, popularly called caves, are decorated with
sculptures. On the walls inside are frescoes. The exuberance of sculpture and painting
leaves an unforgettable impression on the mind. Here Indian art attained the zenith of
artistic development and revealed a rhythm of life whose robust vitality still amazes us.
As has been stressed by an English critic, very rarely in the world’s history has there
come together such true symphony of the three arts — ^painting, sculpture and architecture
— ^as is so beautifully harmonised at Ajanta.

Almost all the walls, ceilings, pillars, etc. of all the caves retain traces of frescoes,
but Caves I, II, IX, X, XVI and XVII possess a stupendous wealth of frescoes, most of
which represent scenes from the Jataka-stories of Buddha’s previous births in various
forms — human, animal, reptile, bird and others.

The antiquity of these caves and frescoes ranges from the 2nd century B.C. to the 7th
century A.D. Despite the long intervals which separate these paintings in time, there is
a unity of conception and design which is truly remarkable. These frescoes draw their
themes from Buddhist folk-lore and relate the many legends woven round the life of
Buddha. Though the dominant motif is religious, the paintings in their range and
treatment are in reality an epic of the life of the people during eight centuries.

Next to the divine and serene atmosphere which hangs round the figures of Buddha
and Bodhisattavas, garlands of beautiful womanhood knitted round the figures of rajas,
noblemen and sages and sprinkled haphazard like flowers in scenes painted all over the
walls, bear ample testimony to the overflowing passion for woman-worship, as next only
to the gods.

The caves are on the second terrace and the 250 feet high perpendicular rock where
they commence is in the form of a semi-circle. The exquisite workmanship of the past
masters of the chisel and the easel lends an ecstatic charm to the glorious manifestation
of Natnrc in this beautiful place.

11

The Ajanta caves contain several figures of foreigners, such as Persians and Bactrians,
but the most interesting group is in a painting in Cave I representing the Iranian embassy
from Khusrav II, King of Persia (A.D. 591 to 628) to Pulakesin II (A.D. 609 to 610) of
Maharashtra,

Tabari, the Arab historian, gives clear evidence of the close relations between the
two kings. The date would be about 625 A.D.

The drinking scenes are copies of a picture by Indian artists of the same Khusrav II
and his famous queen, Shirin.

Cave XVII at Ajanta has a painting of the embassy of Persian king Bahram Gaur
(A.D. 420-440) to the king of Malwa.

ELLORA

About a hundred miles from Ajanta, another crescent-shaped hill was likewise cut to
make the rock-hewn temples and monasteries of Ellora. Unlike Ajanta, the caves here
belong to the three great religions of India — ^Buddism, Jainism and Hinduism. The
earliest caves — Caves I to XII, belong to the Buddhist religion and range from the
second century B.C. to 7th century A.D. Of these, Cave* X is the only chaitya at
Ellora, whereas the remaining eleven caves are viharas^ some of which are even three-
storeyed. The next in order are the Hindu caves — Nos. XIII to XXIX, which may
date from the 9th to 12th century A.D. Of this group, Cave XVI, the Kailasa, is
the largest, most elaborate and a miracle of patient human industry. And, according
to an inscription carved on it, is an achievement of the Rashtrakuta Prince Krishna
I, latter half of the 8th century A.D. The main temple is totally detached and is
situated in the middle of a quadrangular courtyard which is surrounded on three sides
by rows of sculptured galleries containing mostly subjects and scenes from the Saivaite
Pantheon, while the fourth or western side has the entrance through a portico. The
Kailasa temple, 164 ft. in length, 109 ft. in breadth and 96 ft. in height, scooped out of a
single rock,, is lavishly carved and sculptured with life-size animals and images of gods
and goddesses. No nobler monument exists of Hindu genius, daring and skill.

Although hewn from the living rock, the Kailasa is intricate in design with ceilings,
pillars, and galleries full of bas-reliefs. Episodes from the Ramayana and the Makabharata
occupy two of the walls. The elephant pediment of the main temple is a remarkable
work of art in itself. The other caves stretch along the hillside on either side of the Kailasa.

I’he third group, which is exclusively of the Jaina Cult, comprises of caves Nos. XXX
to XXXIV. These caves are interconnected and their architecture and sculpture appa-
rently show a downward trend when compared with the two former sets. The archi-
tecture of these caves is a poor imitation of the great Kailasa" and is also called Chhota
Kailasa, The sculptures are mostly those of Jainas and Tirthankaras, and Indra and
Indrahi, with their typical associations, adorn the more important positional in the

12

halls and galleries, as such the architecture of these Jaina Caves and their ' Sculptures
are probably wanting in the all-permeating spirituality, grace and calm of the Buddhist
caves and the gorgeousness and vigour of the Hindu excavations.

In almost all the three sets of caves are to be found inscriptions which help in dating
them, and here and there are patches of frescoes which, on account of their poverty of
imagination and technique, fall far behind the superb murals of Ajanta.

Perhaps the most striking impression of the amazing works of art at Ellora is to be
obtained late in the afternoon when the setting sun shines straight into the interiors, and
gives the rock a brilliant crimson hue, seemingly bringing to life the colossal Buddhas
carved in the cells at the back of many of the caves.

Ellora is probably named after a legendary king, Raja Elu, who is said to have
founded the village and excavated the Kailasa out of gratitude for having been mira-
culously cured of a disease he was suffering from. The cure is believed to have been
effected by the waters of a tank near Ahalya Bai’s temple, close to Ellora. The tank is
even now known as Raja Elu’s tank.

Both Ajanta and Ellora can be visited from Aurangabad which is on the Central
Railway, 233 miles from Bombay and 320 miles from Hyderabad-Secunderabad, Visitors
from Bombay have to change at Manmad on the broad-guage system of the Central
Railway and from there proceed by the metre-guage train to Aurangabad. Convenient
connections for important trains can be had at Manmad both on the outward and on the
return journey. Visitors from Hyderabad can leave Hyderabad late in . the evening
and arrive in Aurangabad next morning. An air service also connects Bombay with
Aurangabad. The State Hotel, Aurangabad, run by the Central Railway, is an excellent
place to stay.

Ajanta was known from times immemorial, but unsettled conditions in the Deccan
precluded popularity as well as proper caretaking. The British came to know of
Ajanta in 1819, but it was not until Fergusson published his paper on rock-cut
temples that general interest was fully aroused in 181r3. Subsequently, the Govern-
ment of India stationed Major Gill at Ajanta who copied a magnificient series of
frescoes in 1857 which were exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, and
perished with it in fire in 1866.

Since then, however, the State has been taking a keen interest in Ajanta and
Ellora, and from 1920 has taken special sedulous care of both monuments. Professors
Lorenzo Cecconi and Orsini were employed to repair and renovate the frescoes,
which work they did with the help of Indian experts.

Following integration of the State with the Republic of India, both Ajanta and
Ellora have becomes a charge upon Government of India’s Archaeological Depart*

13 .

ment, though the Statens department of Archaeology continues to' act as their agetit.

AHALYA BAI TEMPLE

This temple built by Ahalya Bai in the 13th century is famous for its Jyotirlingam*
The temple is in Kannad taluq not very far from Ell ora.

ANTUR

There is an ancient fort at Antur upon the summit of a ghat which projects into Khan-
desh. Persian inscriptions on pillars, and in a mosque inside the fort, date from 1591,
1598, 1616 and 1625 — the Nizamshahi period.

AURANGABAD CITY

This city has many interesting features for the sight-seer, unique among them is the
water-supply system built by Malik Ambar, the founder of the city, in 1610. The Pan-
chakki or water-mill still exists and is a beauty spot. Some of the 17 original under-
ground channels are still in use. Close to it arc the Dargah of Baba Shah Musafir, the
spiritual preceptor of Aurangzeb, a mosque and a serai.

.The Naukhanda Palace and Kali Masjid are other constructions dating from
Malik Ambar’s time. The palace was enlarged and finished by the first Nizam.
The Shah Gunj Jami Masjid is the principal place of Muslim worship. This mosque
and the Chowk Masjid were built by Shaista Khan in the reign of the first Nizam,
Asaf Jah I.

Lai Masjid, a later Moghul mosque, is so called because of its red stone architecture.
Qila Arak is also a Moghul palace, later extended by the Nizams.

The mausoleum of Rabi’a Daurani, Aurangzeb’s Queen, is the Taj of the South in
every respect except architectural greatness, and called Bibi-ka-Maqbara. The mauso-
leum was designed after the Taj Mahal at Agra, and erected between 1650 and 1657.
It is situated in a beautiful garden laid out with fountains and cypress trees. Portions
of the tomb are in pure white marble, the remainder being in beautiful stucco plaster
with very rich specimens of arabesque.

AURANGABAD CAVES

Less than a mile north-west of Bibi-ka-Maqbara are three sets of Buddhist caves
dating from the 2nd to 7th century A.D. They represent both the chaitya and vihara
types, but while some caves have remained unfinished, others have been damaged by
land-slides.

. The caves , may be. generally compared with those of Ajanta in architecture and

14

sculpture — althou.^h they have almost been stripped of their frescoes by the inclemencies
of weather. Cave III (vihara) has a carved frieze representing Sutasome Jataka,
which is more prominent and pronounced here than that in Cave XVII at Ajanta,
a fresco. Similarly, the two groups of votaries in front of the Buddha in temple III
are the best specimens of their kind. The sculptures are life-size and full of life. The
dresses of the figures are scanty and the coiffeurs and contours of the bodies of the
female figures, and the matted locks of the male votaries are extremely pleasing and
realistic. The figure of Padmapani, with eight panels representing Buddhist litany on
either side of the figure, is superior to any group either at Ajanta and Ellora or any-
where else in India. Likewise, the dance scene in the same temple, with Tara in
the middle and three female votaries on either side, may well stand comparison with the
Nataraja scene in Cave XVI at Ellora.

Much has been done to repair and conserve these caves and to make them accessible
by constructing a fair-weather road from tlie Begumpura Darwaza of Aurangabad. A
flight of steps has been constructed from the foot of the hill and a bridle path has been
made out on the brow of the hill to communicate with all the three sets of caves,

BHOKARDAN CAVE

At Bhokardan there is an underground excavation comprising of chambers, shrines and
a verandah facing a quadrangular court. The sculptures belong to the Vaishnavite cult
and the cave may be ascribed to the 8th or 9th century A.D. from the characters of the
carv^ed inscription in its verandah. As the cave has been hewn out on the bank of the
Kelna, the waters of the river used to cause constant damage to it, but this has been
checked by the construction of a strong masonry dam which has ensured the safety of the
cave. There is also a neolithic site in Bhokardan.

In the same taluq there are Buddhist caves dating from 6th to 7th century A.D. at
Ghatotkatch. The Baitalbari fort, also in the Bhokardan taluq, has some remarkable
fortifications, bastions and inscriptions.

DAULATABAD

Daulatabad is Deogiri (Devagiri) of old, and this is where Muhammad Tughlaq set up
the capital of his Indian Empire after shifting from Delhi.

The place i$ celebrated as the capital of the Seunas, more commonly known by their
assumed name of Yadavas, who rose from the position of feudatories of the Chalukyas to
that of independent princes. Bhillamma I, who threw off allegiance about 1 187, is said
by Hemadri to have founded Deogiri. His grandson, Singhana, acquired practically
the whole of the Western Chalukyan kingdom.

Ala-ud-din Xhllji captured the fort in 1294, and this event marks the first invasion
of the Deccan by the MusHms. The fort was restored to the Raja: on-hb agreeing

15

to pay tribuie, but later expeditions were undertaken on account of default. Dcogiri
was occupied by Malik Kafur in 1307 and 1310 , and in 1318 the last raja, Harpal, was
flayed alive.

In 1338, Muhammad Tughlaq attempted to transfer his capital from Delhi toDeogiri
and his unfortunate subjects were forced to migrate to the new seat of government. After a
period of seventeen years, the citizens were permitted to return to Delhi, but most of the
exiles were so disconsolate that they preferred to undertake the Vv^earisome journey of
six hundred and ten miles northwards rather than remain in that city. He changed
•Deogiri to Daulatabad and from here he directed his campaigns against the rajas of
Warangal. Troubles having broken out in northern India, the king left his new capital to
suppress them. During his absence, the Muslim governors of the newly acquired provinces
revolted, and in the confusion which ensued Zafar Khan, the governor of Gulbarga,
succeeded in capturing Daulatabad, ^vhich remained in the possession of the Bahmanis until
1526 when it was taken by the Nizam Shahis, to be again wested from them by Akbar,
After the fall of Ahmadnagar, the Nizam Shahi capital was transferred to Khirki, the
present Aurangabad, and Daulatabad was retaken to remain in their possession until it
was captured in 1633 by Shah Jahan’s general. It remained part of the Moghul empire
until after Aurangzeb’s death, when it came into the possession of Asaf Jah, the first
Nizam of Hyderabad.

The fortress is built upon a conical rock, scraped to a height of 150 feet from the
base. The hill upon which it stands, rises almost perpendicularly from the plain to a
height of about 2,250 feet above sea level. The outer wall is 2| miles in circumference
with three lines of fortifications between it and the base of the upper fort. The outer
wall formerly enclosed the ancient city of Deogiri, but a village is now all that remains.

The fort has altogether eight gates , and several pieces of ordnance arc still to be
seen on the bastions.

An interesting feature of the fort is its underground passage, known as the Andheri,’*
cut in the bowels of the rock. Here and there in the dark passage are pitfalls designed to
throw the uninitiated down into the deep moat below. The end of the passage has been
provided with a large iron grating on which fire used to be kindled at the time of
invasion in order to make the passage intolerably hot and smoky for the invader. There
are some unfinished caves cut under the great rock of the fort which from their mode of
excavation and carving, appear to be contemporaneous with the Ellora caves — ^particularly
those of the Hindu period.

Besides the fortifications, the chief buildings are the Chand Minar and Chini Mahal.
The Chand Minar, which is 210 feet high and 70 feet in circumference at the base, was
erected by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his conquest of the fort. The basement
is 15 feet high, containing twenty-four chambers and the whole pillar was originally
covered with glazed Persian tiles of much beauty. It is considered as one of the most stri-
king pieces of Muslim architecture in Southern India, To the south of this, is a small

16

mosque, with a Persian inscription giving the date of its erection as 849 Hijri (1445).
The Chini Mahal, or ‘ china palace, ’ which was once a building of. great beauty, is 40
feet to the right of the eighth gate of the fort. It was here that Abul Hasan.Tana. Shah,
the last of the Qutb Shahi kings, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.

Very little is left of the buildings of the old Hindu period except, the remains of Kali-
ka-Deval, the middle portion of which was converted into mosque by Malik Kafur.
Close to this mosque is the Jami Masjid which has Hindu pillars and lintels. This is said
to have been constructed by Mubarak Khilji in 1313 A.D. and later on the coronation of
Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahmani, the first Sultan and founder of the Bahmani Dy-
nasty, was performed in this mosque in 1347 A,D. Firishta has given a graphic des-
cription of the ceremony.

Apart from this, there are a clear water spring, known as the ‘ Kaori Tanka an
elephant pool called the Hathi Houz, Janardhan Swami’s Samadhi, and some palaces
attributed to Shah Jahan and some others to the Nizam Shahi kings of Ahmadnagar.

Daulatabad fort is about one mile from the railway station of that name on the
road to Ellora, but the fort can be conveniently visited from Aurangabad on the trip to
Ellora caves by road, as there are no cars available at Daulatabad station.

JALNA

Jalna has many old buildings dating from the Muslim period but the only protected
monument in the town is a neolithic site where cores, flakes and similar antiquities were
discovered.

Thirty miles from Jalna station is the^Assaye battlefield where Wellesley defeated
the Marathas on the fateful 23rd of September 1803, a turning point in the history of
British India. The battle may be said to have anticipated the fate of the French armies
at Waterloo because the Maratha army was French trained and staffed with Frenchmen.

Local tradition not only places the founding of the town as far back as the days of
the Ramayana but also asset ts that Shri Rama himself lived here for a time. It is said
that the town was then named Janakpur.

During Akbar’s time Abul Fizal received the town as a grant and lived here for a
time as shown by his correspondence with Prince Danial.

KHULDABAD

Khuldabad, four miles west of Daulatabad, is a town of tombs and mausoleums and
here lie burned saints, sovereigns and courtiers, Aurangzeb ; Abul Hasan Tana Shah,
the last king of Golconda ; Ahmad and Burhan Nizam Shahs, kings of Ahmednagar ;
Malik Ambar ; Prince Azam Shah ; Khan-i-Jahan; Munim Khan; Bani Begum, great-
grand-daughter of Aurangzeb ; Asaf jah I, the first Nizam ; Nasir Jung Shahecd; and

17

saints Zainul Haq, Burhanuddin and Raju Qattal are those whom history has known
and whose tombs and graves can be seen even today.

Also in the taluq are two serais built by Aurangzcb, at Fardapur and Ajanta Serai^
a Jami Masjid constructed by Nizani I and the Baradari of Salar Jung 1.

PAITHAN

Easily accessible too is Paithan, 35 miles south of Aurangabad, It is beautifully situa-
ted on the north bank of the river Godavari and is looked upon by the Hindus as a sacred
place.

According to tradition Paithan was founded by Brahma who, after having created
the world, selected this spot on the banks of the sacred Godavari, as his residence.

Brahma is said to have named his abode Patan ( “ flourishing city ” ), by which
appellation it continued to be known until the god, becoming jealous of the superior
attractions of the other holy places which had come into existence after he had estab-
lished himself at Paithan, changed the name of the place to Pratisthan, a Sanskrit
term signifying that the city resembled the celestial abode of the gods.

Fiom this circumstance, it is alleged, the city acquired additional sanctity, which
enabled it to compete sucessfully with its rivals. These particulars and many others of
a similar nature are set forth in the Prathistkan Mahatmya^ a legendary account of the
origin of the city.

In ancient Pali literature and the records of the Buddhist bhikshus, Tatitthana* has
been mentioned as the southern terminus of the Savatthi-Patitthana trade-route and des-
cribed as a flourishing town nestling on the banks of the Godavari. Arrian, the Greek
traveller, has called this town ‘ Pleithan ’, and Ptolemy, the Egyptian geographer and
astronomer, travelling in India in the first half of the second century A.D. recorded
that ‘ Baithana ’ was the capital of * Siro Polomaios % Pulumavi II (138-70 B.G.), and
the author of the Pmplus of the Erythrean Sea called the town by the name of
* Poethana,” while Pliny, the Roman Historian of the first century A.D., pays a high
tribute to this town by stating that it is the glorious capital of the Andhras.”

In one of the inscriptions of the Pithalkhora Caves and also in the Pratistham Mahi-
tmya — a legendary account which deals with the events relating to the founding of the
city — the name of the town is recorded and preserved as ‘ Pratisthana.* In one of
Asoka’s inscriptions, mention is made of Buddhist missionaries having been sent to the
‘Petenikas,’ which can be no other than the people of Paithan.

Known to the ancients by various names, and celebrated for exporting textiles, beads
and onyx stone through Barygaza (modem Broach), the town of Paithan, was the sub-
capital of the Andhrabhrityas, a branch of the great Andhra stock. Originally, the
Andhra kings had their capital at Dhanyakatak (modern Amaravati) near the delta of the
Krishna but towards the end of the first century A.D. they felt the necessity of having

18

another capital in the north-west to protect their dominions from the inroads of the
northern tribes— the Sakas, the Pahlavas, the Yavanas and others. In this way the king-
dom of the Andhras was, for diplomatic reasons, divided into two parts, each with a sepa-
rate capital at Dhanyakatak and Paithan respectively, and the branch of the ruling house
that established itself at Paithan, adopted the humble title of A^dhrabhrityas — ‘‘the vassals
of the Andhras.” Later, this dynasty took the independent title of “ Satavahanas.”

Archaeology has revealed traces of the ancient capital of the Andhras in the form of
square and round Andhra coins with swastika, bodhi tree and other designs, and of brick
structures, houses and drains, while terracotta figurines, semi-precious stones and clay
beads, ivory and shell objects, go far back into the prehistoric phase of India’s history
and bear affinities to Mohenjo Daro culture and beyond.

In the fourteenth century the sect of Mahanubhava, devoted exclusively to the
worship of Krishna, was founded at Paithan.

Many of the ancient buildings at Paithan are now in ruins, but the modern town
contains several temples decorated with fine wood carving, and some- of the houses also
are covered with handsome designs in sculptured wood.

* The Nagaghat at Paithan is an important bathing ghat on the Godavari. It was
'built about 1734 A.D,, and consists of a long flight of steps leading down to the river
between two bastions. Near it are ^o temples, one of which is dedicated to the god
Ganapati.

A well in the courtyard of a certain mosque is still pointed out as the well into
which Salivahana threw clay figures, and thereby hangs an interesting legend. According
to the most reliable account, some Brahmins used to live in Pratisthana and they had a
widowed sister. Sesha, the king of serpents saw her one day on the banks of the Goda-
vari and, assuming hum^ form, married her. Salivahana was born but his uncles aban-
doned the mother and the child, and she had to make a living through domestic service
From his childhood this strange and gifted child took delight in clay figures of horses,
soldiers, elephants, etc., afterwards throwing them into a well.

Meanwhile, the famous Vikramaditya of Ujjain consulted astrologers and ascer-
tained the particular man who was going to kill him. He organized an elaborate search
and found his mortal foe in the person of Salivahana. He marched to Pratisthana with
a large army and attacked Salivahana, when all the clay figures that Salivahana had
'thrown into the well came out endowed with life and attacked Vikramaditya’s forces.
Salivahana was victorious and set up his rule.

Salivahana’s military conquests made him the supreme ruler of Dakshinapatha and
•^hc Diade Paithan into a rich and great capital city.

It was then that he introduced his own era which remains to this day as the Saka
Era, dating' from the begining of the vernal equinox 79 A.D. {Bilgrami and Willmott).

The shrine of Shah Maulana Sahib is still in good condition and perpetuates the

19

memoiy of one who saved the city from divine wrath.

Hemadri or Hemadpanth was one of the most distinguished personalities associated
with Paithan. A Brahmin of the Shukla Yajurved and the Madhiandin Sakha, he
became Prime Minister of Mahadev, the Yadava King of Deogiri, and afterwards of
Ramchandrasen his successor.

Hemadri has left behind many famous treatises such as Chaturvarga Chintamani and
Ayurvedarasayanay etc., on various subjects. The Marathi character called Mod or
Modhi is also said to have been first introduced by him.

Hemadri and Madhava are regarded as the two pillars of the Dharma Shastra.

PITHALKHORA CAVES

This set of Buddhist caves, chaityas and viharas, is carved in a ravine surrounded
by a picturesque forest and is situated in the Kannad taluq of Aurangabad district.
A seven-mile cart-track, branching off from the Kannad-Outramghat road, leads to the
site and a circuitous footpath — about 300 yards long — descends down to the caves.

The caves, as their architecture, carvings, frescoes and inscriptions all indicate, belong
to the earliest phase of Buddhism and, with their animal and griffin motifs and cross-slant-
ing designs, resemble the architecture and sculpture of Sanchi to a very considerable
extent.

This set of important early Buddhist caves has not so far received the attention which
it rightly deserves.

SILLOD

Anwa village in this taluq has a 12th century temple having a beautiful round ceiling
on the Mahamandapa with exquisite carvings and sculpture.

The Tatlan (Vaishagadh) fort is a protected monument in Jinjala village and its
fortifications, bastions and inscriptions are notable.

BHIR

F

AR from the madding crowd, in the picturesque hinterland of Hyderabad, the
district of Bhir nestles among rivers, ravines and green hills, where at one time railway,
telegraph and post office were almost unknown, but where amenities of civilization are
now available. In Purli, traces of prehistoric culture have been discovered and similar
artifacts probably await any Leonard Woolley or Carter who may undertake a survey.

According to tradition, Bhir was called Durgavati during the time of the Pan-
davas and Kurus, and its name was subsequently changed to Balni; but Champavati,
Vikramaditya’s sister, after capturing it, called it Champavatinagar. Nothing definite
is known of its history; but it must have been included successively in the kingdoms of
the Andhras, the Ghalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, and the Yadavas of Deogiri, from whom
it passed to Muslim kings of Delhi.

Bhaskaracharya, India’s renowned medieval mathematician and astronomer, and
author of Lilavati and the Siddhanta Shiromaniy is believed to have made the first reference
to Bhir. In his works which are dated circa 1 1 14 to 1128 A.D. it is related that Bhas-
kamcharya was bom in Vijjal Vida, in the Sahya range, which is akin to *^Bced” or Bhir.

. / . , : / :THB ;TQMB OF THE ROYAL TOOTH

Bhir "definitely appears in history in 1326 A.D., when Muhammad Tughlaq passed
through it and changed Champavatinagar to Bhir. It is said by Firishta that he lost
one of his teeth here, which was buried with royal pomp. This tradition is still prevalent
in Bhir, and a small tower built on a mountainous track at Ranjani, eight miles south-
east of Bhir town, is pointed out as the tomb of the royal tooth.

After the Tughlaqs, the town fell successively to the Bahmani, the Nizam Shahi and
the Adilshahi kingdoms, and eventually the Moghuls captured Bhir in 1635. During the
Asaf Jahi period the boundaries of the Suba were always shifting, while great portions

22

passed into the hands of the Marathas.

The battle of Rakshasbhuvan took place in the Bhir district in 1763, on the ban!
of the Godavari, about 70 miles north-west of Bhir, where Nawab Nizam Ali Khai
was defeated by Raghunath Rao and Madhav Rao and though Vithal Sunder, the Prim<
Minister, and Vinayakdas, his nephew, were killed the incendiarism of Nizam A1
Khan at Poona was partly requited.

Another historical significance which attaches to Bhir district is that it was the birth
place of Devi Ahalya Bai, who was born circa 1725 at Ghondhe. Her father, Mankojee
Scindia, was a patel of the place. Devi Ahalya Bai was born in the State but the
perfume of her creative, constructive and artistic career has permeated the whole world
to this day.

Bhir district has offered a fertile field for thefiree play of poetic genius in Marathi
literature. Nine poets of the first rank were born in the district, of whom Mukund Raj
and Dasopant are of immortal fame. Mukund Raj was looked upon as the oldest poet in
Marathi before the discovery of the treasures of the Mahanubhavi literature. His literary
brocades are woven out of the warp and woof of philosophy and poetr}% The Vivek
Sindku^ the Paramamrita and the Panchi Katana are some of his outstanding creations.
The samadhi of jMukund Raj is at Ambajogai, m a lovely glen which resonates with the
sweet music of cooing birds and a babbling brook.

Dasopant is the most prolific writer in Marathi, almost unexcelled by any other
contemporary, irrespective of language. He also flourished in Ambajogai between 1550
and 1615 A.D. He was a profound scholar of philosophy as revealed in Srimad Bhagwad
Gita. He wrote volumes of commentary. A fragment of his works which has been
published covers 1,080 pages, but the MS could fill 15,000 printed pages. As he could
not obtain paper he wrote on “ pasodi ” — thick khaddar cloth. One such piece is in
an excellent condition of preservation and measures 24 by 2| cubits. Lovers of art
and literature should see that this precious memento is not lost. Dasopant preached
that activism, Karma Yoga, ’’ was the keynote of the Gita^ and anticipated Lokmanya
Tilak centuries ago.

BHIR CITY

Two temples- in this city, the Khanqah ^d the Khandeshwari Deval, are among
the many notable features of the city. Though the superstructure!^ still stand in lovely
surroundings, the worshippers have . lost regard for them. The main temple has lost
the images of its deity, styled Kanakeshwar, but it is called Khanqah temple. This
temple is a beautiful island in a tank almost square in plan, and with a fine parapet
of chiselled masonry on one side. The temple is approached by a causeway of solid 62
feet masonry. The whole scene portrays the high sense of beauty and cultural values
of medieval times.

.. 'Die other temple, known as Khandeshwari Deval, is perched on an eminence

23

200 feet away from the town. The original image is missing and a detached sculpture of
Mhalsa and Khandoba is placed as a deputy for worship. The salient features of the
temple are the two dipdans which rise to 45 feet. These towers are built on square bases.
Their girth above the square basement is over 48 feet while at the top they taper up to
28 feet.

Among the other monuments of interest are the dargah of Pir Bala Shah, a mile
and half from the town towards Patoda, which was built in 1778, and the Jami Masjid
which is in the centre of the town. The masjid has an inscription indicating that it was
constructed in 1660 A.D. The dargahs of Shahinshah Wali and Mansur Shah are also
important shrines.

The water system of Bhir, like all other historical places in the Deccan such as Aurang-
abad, Poona and Satara, has a khazana baoli or a reseiv’^oir tank from which pipes were
introduced in the town.

Road Transport buses running from Jalna, Aurangabad, and Yarmala via Ambajogai
have made Bhir accessible.

AMBAJOGAI-MOMINABAD

This is a twin city with the river Jivanti in between, and the town of Amba on the
northern bank.

The Pancham Jainas of Amba are said to be the descendants of a feudatory of the
Chalukyas, and are now represented by the Pancham Lingayats. In one of the bastions
of the town is an old temple, built during the reign of Singhana, the Yadava king of
Deogiri, which contains an inscription dated 1240. A number of ruined cave-temples,
both Brahmanical and Jaina, are situated in the vicinity.

Most important is the temple of Ambajogai, on the bank of the Jivanti, which consists
of a small pavillion in the middle of a courtyard, and a great hall 90 feet by 45 cut in the
rock. It is supported by four rows of pillars.

The samadhi of Mukund Raj, the Marathi poet, is also located here.

DHARUR

A fort built by Ahmadnagar kings and a mosque built in the Hindu style of archi-
tecture are prominent features here. The mosque was built by one of Muhammad
Tughlaq’s generals.

PURLI

Purli is the seat of a Swayambhu Jyotirlinga, self-created luminous phallus of Siva.
There are two others : one at Aundha in Parbhani, and the other at Verul in Aurangabad.
In the whole of India there are 12 such Jyotirlingas, those at Kasi and Rameshwar being
the most prominent ones. The main temple was constructed by Devi Ahalya Bai, and an
inscription on the silver leaf of the door bears testimony to this. At one time Purli was
the centre of Brahminic learning.

118

masiddhi, the Telugu-Chola ruler of Nellore and a feudatory of Ganapati.

After Ganapati’s long rule of 62 years, came his daughter Rudrama Devi (A.D. 1260-
1296) in whose reign the Venetian traveller Marco Polo arrived at the famous Andhra
harbour of Motupalli on the eastern coast and visited the Andhradesa.

In his account of travels Marco Polo records that Andhra was famous for its diamonds
and superfine cloth woven with yarn finer than gossamer.

Rudrama Devi was no effiminate ruler. She dressed like a man, rode on elephant
and horse and was actually addressed as Rudradeva Maharaj as if she was a man. The
Yadavas of Devagiri wished to take advantage of a woman on the throne and led an in-
vasion, but she put up an able defence and repxilsed the invaders.

Pratap Rudra (A.D. 1296-1323) who succeeded Rudrama Devi was her daughter’s
son, and is renowned in Sanskrit literature as Vira Rudra. He wrested Kanchi from the
Pandyas and drove them beyond Tiruchirrapalli. But he had to encounter several in-
vasions of the Sultans of Delhi who were bent on reducing the Kakatiya kingdom to
subordination. For over twenty years, from A.D, 1303, Pratap Rudra maintained his
kingdom intact and according to Hindu accounts successfully resisted the Muslim invaders
on six successive occasions failing only on the seventh and last occasion in A.D. 1323.

The Kakatiya kingdom was finally overcome in A.D. 1323 by prince Ulugh Khan
who later ascended the Delhi throne, in A.D. 1325, as Muhammad Tughlaq. Ulugh
Khan took Pratap Rudra prisoner, and after taking over the administration of the king-
dom and appointing necessary officers, he returned to Delhi. While being led as a
prisoner to Delhi, Pratap Rudra committed suicide on the banks of the Narmada, unable
to bear the bitterness of humiliation and defeat.

Originally followers of Jainism, the Kakatiya rulers patronized Saivism from the time
of Prola II. The Pasupata sect of Saivism in particular gained in strength and numbers
at this time. Most of these religious leaders were renowned scholars and monasteries were
centres of learning, and hospitals as well. Great expansion of commerce, especially sea-
borne trade, was responsible for the increase in the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom
during this period. The numerous temples constructed by the Kakatiya kings and their
feudatories contributed to the progress of architecture and sculpture.

Learning and literature in Sanskrit and Telugu advanced to a high degree of achieve-
ment, as testified to by numerous scholars and authors of repute. A certain Virabhallata-
desika is renowned for his encyclopaedic learning {sarva-sastra-visarada) and Aga^tya,
another great writer and author of Balabharata and Nalakirti Kaumudi in Sanskrit, is often
identified with Vidyanatha the author of the famous work on Alankara Sastra called Pratapa-
rudra T %sobhusana. Jayapa, the commander of the elephant- corps of Ganapati, is the author
of Krttaratnavali and even the renowned Sanskrit poet Sakalyamalla is generally assigned
to this period. In Telugu there is the excellent popular work Ban^anatha fiaw^iyariamu by
Gona Buddha Reddi and the equally famous Basava Purammu and Parditaradhya Charitarm
by Palkuriki Somanatha, all in easy flowing dvipada meter. Bkaskara^Ramayanamu is

119

another excellent product of this time. Pratap Rudra himself is reputed to have composed
a work in Telugu called Nitisara but unfortunately no copy of this work is now available.

With the disappearance of the Muslim power, about A.D. 1335-36, Andhra split up
into a number of petty kingdoms, the earliest of which was the coastal kingdom of eastern
and north-eastern Andhra under Prolaya Nayaka with his capital near Kunavaram on the
Godavari, not far from modern Bhadrachalam. The next was the kingdom of Telingana
with headquarters at Warangal recovered from the Muslims by the able warrior Kapaya
Nayaka who was cousin (son of father’s brother) of Prolaya Nayaka. When Prolaya
Nayaka died without issue his kingdom was united with that of Kapaya Nayaka. The
second was the kingdom of the Reddis founded by Prolaya Verna Reddi with its capital
first at Addanki and later at Kondavidu in Gimtur district. The third was the kingdom
of the Padma-Velamas founded by Recherla Singamanaya with its capital at Rajukonda.
The fourth was the kingdom of Vijayanagar founded by Harihara and Bukka under the
wise guidence and patronage of the great sage Vidyaranya.

In 1422, Warangal was finally captured by the Bahmani troops, and on the break-
up of that kingdom it fell to the Qutb Shahis of Golconda. Shitab Khan became the
Qutb Shahi governor of Warangal. He slowly succeeded in carving out for irim a
separate principality comprising of Khammamet, Nalgonda and Warangal and became
independent.

As lovers of art and literature the Kakatiya kings made a name in history. The
best specimens of architecture of their age are the 1000-Pillar Temple at Hanam-
konda, the temple at Palampet popularly known as Ramappa temple and the Warangal
fort. Of the best irrigation works which have stood the test of time are the Pakhal,
Ramappa and Laknavaram lakes.

The name Warangal is a corrupt form of the word “ Orukal ” or Orugallu ”
which means ‘one stone’. According to some inscriptions in Sanskrit this town was also
called Ekopala, Ekasila, Ekopalapuri or puram all of which refer to the solitary cliff in
the centre of the magnificent fort built here by the kings of Kakatiya dynasty and used as
their capital.

Warangal or Varankal is also believed to be the Korun Kula of Ptolemy, while
another name is Akshalingar, evidently the Yeksilanagar or Yeksilapatan mentioned by
Raghunath Bhaskar in his Aravachan Kosh,

The city was surrounded by two walls ; the outer one, which is of mud, is said to
have been 25 miles in circumference. Traces of it are still extant, and the railway
cuts through it in two places. The inner wall of stone is pierced by four arches and the
gateways are remarkable for their strength. Both walls date from the 13th century.

For hundreds of years, both Hanamkonda and Warangal have been renowned for
their industrial importance, and Marco Polo wrote of Warangal, in the kingdom are
made the best and most delicate buckrams (cotton stuff) and those of highest price; in
sooth they look like tissue of spider’s web, There is no king or queen in the world but

120

might be glad to wear them/’

THOUSAND-PILLAR TEMPLE

The temple of Hanamkonda, one of the suburbs of Warangal, is considered to be
one of the finests specimens of the architecture and sculpture of the Kakatiya period.

Founded by Ganapati the temple is mentioned in Pratap Charitra and, like all
earlier Ghalukyan temples, it is star-shaped and triple-shrined, the three shrines being
dedicated to Siva, Vishnu and Surya respectively.

The shrines have no deities, the pedestals inside being fitted with black basalt lingams.
But the perforated and ornamented stone screens on the respective doors of the shrines
contain the efSgies of the three gods.

The most notable features of this temple are the richly carved pillars and lintels,
the delicately pierced screens and the most carefully finished sculptures. The black
basalt Nandi or the sacred bull, in front of the temple, is a splendid specimen of sculp-
ture in monolith.

A large black basalt slab, fixed near the eastern entrance and inscribed with Kan-
nada-Telugu characters, records the events and the date, 1164 A.D., of the construction
of the temple.

This record is extremely important inasmuch as it gives a geneological table of the
builder of the temple, King Ganapati, and contemporaneous events.

WARANGAL FORT

King Ganapati began the construction of this fort in 1199 and Rudrama Devi
completed it in 1261 A.D. A large temple in the centre of the fort which was presum-
ably under construction, has been recently excavated. The boundary of the original
temple was marked by four large elaborately carved gateways facing the four cardinal
points. They bear a striking similarity to the famous gateways of Sanchi, and are very
imposing to look at.

The fort has two walls, the inner one being of stone and the outer of mud, surrounded
by a moat nearly 72 feet wide and 56 feet deep. Traces of a third earthen wall are visible
near the villages of Thimmapur and Narasimalingudem, six miles south of Hanam-
konda. According to a chronologist this wall had a circumference of thirty miles, the
largest of its kind in India. Other notable structures inside the fort are numerous
minor temples, the Durbar Hall of Shitab Khan and store houses.

The fort has a vast army of minor antiquities, such as images, carvings, inscription
slabs, etc. They can be seen in the Durbar Hall of Shitab Khan.

Excavations in the area within the four decorated gateways, the heart of the fort,
have revealed basements and remains of a Kakatiya temple as well as other antiquities

121

of considerable archaeological and artistic significance.

There are a number of temples, dedicated to Narasimhaswami, Padmakshi, and
Govindarajuluswami, which are of great sanctity. The last named temple is perched
on a hillock near the Warangal railway station, commanding a grand panorama of the
entire city and its surroundings. Very beautiful and artistic is the modern Siva temple
with idols in pure white marble and walls inlaid with coloured porcelain. Other excava-
tions have revealed prehistoric sites in many places.

At Ailoni in Warangal there is a temple of the Kakatiya period dating from 12th-
13th century. It has a double compound wall which is extremely massive and represents
the typical Kakatiya style. The outer wall has three entrances .which are fashioned
like the gateways that stand in the heart of Warangal fort. There are also two Kakatiya
inscriptions, one of which is seven feet long and set up on a covered platform while the
other is located on the tank bund.

RAMAPPA TEMPLE

Forty miles from Warangal, in Mulug laluq, is Palampet and here on the shores of
the famous Ramappa lake are the remains of temples, described as the brightest stars in
the galaxy of medieval temples of the Deccan.

The main temple, which is surrounded by an old enclosure wall composed of large
stone slabs, has subsidiary shrines on its northern and southern ends. The Temple is
similar in style and workmanship to its great prototype, the Thousand-Pillar Temple,
but it is more ornamental. The sikhara of the temple is constructed of large light bricks
which can float on water.

The pillars and ceilings are full of ornamentation, and scenes from the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata are sculptured everywhere. Long panels of figures of gods, goddesses,
warriors, acrobates, musicians and dancing girls in different poses decorate the outer
walls while female figures in extremely graceful poses, almost life-like and made of highly
polished black basalt stone, are arranged in pairs in the form of brackets. They represent
the Takshis^ female spirits, in technical dance poses serving as guards of the doors.

According to an old Kannada-Telugu inscription fixed inside the enclosure, the
temple was constructed in 1204 A.D.

THE TWO SISTERS

The Ramappa lake is the most magnificent example of old irrigation works construct-
ed by the kings of Kakatiya dynasty. A reference to this tank is made in an inscription
at Palampet according to which this lake was constructed in 1213 A.D. when the Kakatiya
king, Ganapati, was ruling. It has a catchment area of about 82 square miles and four
main distributary channels. It is capable of irrigating about 9,000 acres.

The Laknavaram lake is 13 miles from Mulug and regarded as a sister to Ramappa

122

lake being named after Sri Lakshmana the brother of Sri Rama. This lake also dates
from the same period and was created by shutting up three narrow valleys with short
bunds. It has a catchment area of 75 square miles and three main distributaries irrigat-
ing about 13,000 acres.

THE GREAT PAKHAL

The Pakhal Jake is situated in Pakhal taluq, about 32 miles east of Warangal town.
It was constructed about 700 years ago. It is said that when Pratap Rudra failed to
pay tribute to the Emperor of Delhi, Shitab Khan, the commander of the emperor’s
forces, breached the tank and carried away the hidden treasures from the tank bed. The
lake is formed by a 2,000-yard dam across the river Pakhal at a place where it cuts its way
through two low hills.

An inscription of the Kakatiya king Ganapati on the bund in Kannada-Telugu
praises him as one “ who received homage of Kings of Kase, Kalingas, the Sakas, the
Malwas, Koralas, the Hunas, the Kauras, Arimardas, Mogadhas, Nepalas, etc.”

HASANPARTl

Here is a temple of Venkateswara Swamy and a religious Jatra is held annually in
which large numbers participate.

KAZIPET

The name Kazipet is derived from a domed tomb built by a kazi of this district in
the early part of the 19th century. Near it are some picturesque rocks, on one of which
are two horn-like boulders which are visible from the railway train. Three ancient
temples, situated on the summit of these rocks, contain some interesting specimens of
early Hindu carving.

An annual Urs called “ Dargah Urs ” takes place near Kazipet. There are some old
temples situated on an isolated, rock at Muddikonda, about a mile to the south of Kazipet
station. One temple is dedicated to Siva and the other to Vishnu. Both are in the
Dravidian style of architecture with pyramidal sikharas or spires. In the village near the
rock there are some smaller temples of which the finest is used by Saivites.

KHAMMAMET

At Karkonda there are Buddhist and Andhra sites dating from the first to the third
centuries A.D. In the Karkonda hill there are rock carvings, while remains of two
dagobas and two cells carved out of sandstone rocks represent the Mahayana cult. The
walls are sculptured.

At Khammam the 11th centuty Hindu fort, is a conspicuous ^a ndpiark. Built

123

00 years ago it was further fortified by French engineers. The fort also contains several
uns of a much later period. There are also prehistoric sites in various places in the
aluq.

MULUG

xhanpur in this taluq has a group of 22 temples which are replicas of the famous
Lamappa temple. The 22 form a square enclosure in the centre of which stands the
lain temple which has porticoes on the east, north and south, while the western side has
. cell with the broken effigy of a linga. The mahamandapa is destroyed, but eight human
,nd animal brackets similar in style and form to the Ramappa brackets, however, survive.
These temples are in fact contemporaneous with the Ramappa temple.

KATACHPUR

3n the southern bank of the Katachpur tank are two 1 3th century Kakatiya temples
)uilt of grey granite. These two are also similar to the temples at Hanamkonda, Ramappa
ind Ghanpur in style and workmanship.

WARADHANNAPEl’

■iere an old 18th century fort is believed to have been built by Zafaruddaula. It has
louble walls and some bastions having gun emplacements.

BHADRACHALAM

5hadrachalam is a small village on the northern bank of the Godavari, Bhadra
vas the name of a rishi who was believed to have met Sri Rama^at this place, and the
ullage was named Bhadrachalam after the rishi. According to a local legend Sri Rama
vas separated from his wife at this place, and it is believed that the temple at Bhadra-
:halam was built on the very spot where Sri Rama had built a hut for himself. The site
s the Achala Hill on top of which stands the temple. It is also believed that he crossed
he Godavari from somewhere at the foot of the hill on his celebrated expedition to
Ceylon. .

The temple today is more famous for yet another reason. It was built at a cost of
;ix lakhs of rupees by Ram Dass or Gopanna, to call him by the name he bore before his
ipiritual enlightenment, who was the nephew of Akkanna, the Prime Minister of King
\hul Hasan Tana S^h (1654-1687), the last of the Qjutb Shahi kings of Golconda.
The story runs that while he was the Tahsildar of the tahsil which included Bhadrachalam
:hen, Gopanna misappropriated six lakhs of rupees of the revenue and spent them in
Duilding this temple. When the matter came to the king^s ears he commanded that

124

Ram Dass should be arrested and brought on foot to Golconda. Accordingly he was
marched to Golconda and was incarcerated in a dungeon in the fort of Golconda, which b
even now pointed out to visitors as Ram Dass’s prison. It is said that Ram Dass grew tired
of life in prison and wanted to put an end to himself. Sri Rama appeared to him in a
dream and gave him a clean receipt for the money he had spent in building the temple.
Tana Shah himself then visited Ram Dass, confirmed the receipt of the money paid to
him by some unknown person and set Ram Dass at libci ty.

Every year on Sri Rama Navami, the birth anniversary of Rama, thousands of
pilgrims from all parts of India congregate and attend the principal function of the day,
namely Kalyanain (marriage of Rama and Sita). On this day small idols of Rama and
Sita are bathed in sacred waters of the Godavari and decked with resplendent jewellery.
They are placed in a small gaudily decorated silver palanquin and carried in procession
amidst scenes of devotion and great enthusiasm to a huge mandapam, close by, capable
of accommodating thousands of pilgrims. Amidst the assembled congregation and in the
presence of high officials of the Hyderabad State, the marriage ceremony is celebrated with
due rites and great eclat to the chanting of Vedic hymns and the applause of the specta-
tors. Then the pilgrims fulfil their ' Vows ’ for favours received or solicited. This
concludes the principal attraction of the Jatra which lasts for nearly a fortnight.

There is yet another important day, the Mukkoti Ekadasi, when pilgrims from all
parts of India congregate in thousands to see the gods taken out in procession early in
the morning. This festival lasts for about 10 days.

Tana Shah, the last king of Golconda, had endowed the temple with a substantial
annual grant. The temple is now also getting a grant from Government.

Bhadrachalam can be reached by road as well as rail from Warangal. From the
Bhadrachalam Road station, which is the terminus of the branch line connecting the
Singareni Collieries with the main broad guage system, regular Road Transport Depart-
ment buses run upto Burgampad, which is the last town in the State on the Madras
border. The town is a short distance from the Godavari, which forms the boundary
between Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh, and across is Bhadrachalam. The road from
Warangal to Bhadrachalam is excellent.